Asia

Trade Representative Denies Claims US Put Upcoming China Tariffs on Hold

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Office of the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer denied media reports that the United States had temporarily halted the introduction of the next round of its import duties on China.
Sputnik

The Financial Times newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an informed source, that Lighthizer had allegedly told some industry officials that the next tranche of duties had been put on hold.

"Ambassador Lighthizer has made no representations to industry executives that future Section 301 tariffs are on hold," the US trade representative's office told the CNBC broadcaster on Thursday.

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The office added that the US plan to impose tariffs on $267 billion worth of Chinese imports, announced in September, had not changed.

"Any reports to the contrary are incorrect," the statement said.

In its Thursday report, the Financial Times also claimed that both Beijing and Washington had intensified efforts to ease their trade tensions.

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China and the United States are engaged in a major trade spat which followed the announcement of the introduction of steel and aluminium import duties by US President Donald Trump in March. The tensions further heightened in late May when Washington announced that $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would be subject to 25 percent tariffs prompting a harsh retaliation from Beijing.

Despite being engaged in the talks to resolve the spat, Beijing and Washington have exchanged several rounds of trade duties against each other since then.

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