Existing taxes imposed on Chinese products worth billions of dollars entering American soil are likely to remain until after the US presidential polls, sources with knowledge of the matter, revealed, Tuesday.
China and US have agreed that after the signing of a deal at the White House Wednesday, the Trump administration will evaluate the progress and consider further reductions on tariffs that cover $360 billion worth of Chinese imports, the sources disclosed on condition of anonymity.
The time of evaluation, which is not supposed to be included in the text of the deal, is meant to provide more legroom for Washington to check the commitment of China to the conditions of the agreement.
The pact will not impact the dividing of the 15 percent taxes on approximately $120 billion worth of Chinese products announced in December that is yet to be given the green light.
China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately reply to a fax message seeking for a statement from the US side.
When asked by the media on Tuesday night, US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin denied that there was any way for the Chinese to gain US tariff exemption before the two parties ink a Phase Two deal. Mnuchin pointed out that the timeframe for tariff cuts and the November US election were not related.
Trade executives have state recently that they will publish the 86-page report in connection with the signing and denied there was a plan to reduce tariffs further.
According to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the only non-public portion of the document is a confidential statute with "comprehensive transaction amounts that have been divulged earlier." Both Mnuchin and Lighthizer denied the existence of a proposition to further reduce tariffs.
US lawmakers have downplayed any negative effect the taxes may cause on the American economy. White House economic counsel Peter Navarro said in a Tuesday Wall Street Journal column that mainstream economists, including those at the central bank, had failed to properly account for what he said were the strong economic impact of the tariffs.
The administration has also engaged in other ways in recent days to lay the foundation for the agreement and negotiate on sensitive points like China's extensive program of industrial subsidies seen to be included in the next round of negotiations.
On Monday, Washington has changed a decision to mark China as a "currency manipulator" in what has been widely viewed as a concession to the world's biggest economy. The European Union, Japan and the US have also announced that they have reached an understanding on a new proposed global policy for industrial subsidies in a move that will jack up pressure on China over the issue.
