Markets soared Tuesday morning following the Trump administration's decision to delay and revise its latest round of punitive tariffs against China. The Dow jumped more than 400 points while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both rose roughly 2 percent.
Earlier this month, President Trump announced that U.S. would impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. The tariffs followed seemingly hollow trade talks in Shanghai and were set to go into effect on September 1.
Yet the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said on Tuesday that tariffs on certain products should be delayed until December 15. These included “cell phones, laptop computers, video game consoles, certain toys, computer monitors, and certain items of footwear and clothing,” the USTR said in a statement.
The agency added that certain products will be removed all together from the targeted tariff list “based on health, safety, national security and other factors,” and that it will conduct an additional “exclusion process” on other products.
The earlier proposed tariff on $300 billion worth of goods would have essentially blanketed all Chinese imports, which totaled roughly $558 billion in 2018, with tariffs.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
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