WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump on Sunday again backed away from a self-imposed deadline for raising tariffs on Chinese imported goods, saying negotiators for the United States and China made "substantial progress" in trade talks over the weekend.
"As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1," Trump tweeted Sunday evening.
"Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement," he said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. "A very good weekend for U.S. & China!"
Amid concerns by analysts that Trump is so eager for a deal that he would accept a weak trade agreement, the president had been signaling for days that he might extend the deadline to ratchet up tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods. Trump initially threatened to raise the duties Jan. 1 if no deal was reached by then, but he pushed the deadline to March 1 after meeting with Xi in December.
Trump had said Friday that he and Xi would probably meet next month and that it is likely the two leaders will be able to make a deal that would end the months-long trade war between their two economies.
In two tweets Sunday evening, Trump said the U.S. had made "substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues." He provided no details.
