Trump Says Tariffs On China May Remain In Place For 'Substantial' Period Of Time

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that his administration is discussing leaving tariffs imposed against China for a considerable period of time

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2019) US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that his administration is discussing leaving tariffs imposed against China for a considerable period of time.

"We're not talking about removing them, we're talking about leaving them for a substantial period of time because we have to make sure that if we do the deal with China, that China lives by the deal," Trump said at the White House.

Trump added that the US-China trade deal is "coming along nicely," and US negotiators will be traveling to China this weekend to advance the trade talks.

China and the United States have been embroiled in a trade dispute since last June, when Trump announced that the United States would subject $50 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent tariffs in a bid to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit.

Since then, the two countries have exchanged several rounds of trade tariffs.

At the G20 summit in Argentina in December, Trump and Xi agreed upon a 90-day truce to allow room for a new trade agreement. The truce was set to end on March 1, but after the latest round of consultations Trump decided to postpone the planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.