The U.S. and China are restarting trade negotiations following an enthusiastic meeting between President Trump and President Xi at the G20 summit this past weekend.

Negotiations between China and the U.S. had previously stalled amid China’s failure to adequately address intellectual property concerns posed by the U.S., resulting in increased tariffs on all products falling under List 3.

The trade talks continued during G20 with some seemingly positive results: President Trump vowed to lift certain sanctions put in place against Chinese telecom giant Huawei, while President Xi agreed to immediately increase China’s purchase of U.S. farm and agricultural products. Though no specific details or quantities have been identified by either administration, the President has officially announced the postponement of List 4 – the proposed additional 25% in duties on 3,805 HTS subheadings, totaling $300 billion.

Though List 4 tariffs are postponed “for the time being,” it is important to note that additional tariffs on Lists 1, 2 and 3 will remain at their current levels until further notice.

While hopeful optimism is always encouraged, this administration has experienced “a change of heart” in the not so distant past. For this reason, we continue to encourage our clients who may be impacted by the implementation of List 4 to prepare for this possible development.

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.