December 13:  The China and the United States reached an agreement on the text of their phase-one trade deal.

December 15: Tariffs on some imports from the United States are temporarily suspended, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council issued a notice.

To implement the results of the recent china-us consultations on economic and trade issue, China suspended extra 10 percent and 5 percent tariffs on some products imported from the US, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said. The country also refrained from implementing tariffs on vehicles and auto parts from the US.

December 19: The tariff commission of the state council has released a second list of the first batch of goods subject to additional tariffs on the United States.

As we all know, China has decided to resume imposing tariffs on automobiles and auto parts originated from the United States with a tax rate ranging from 5% to 25%, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council issued a notice on August 23th. 

However, on December 13th , the world's two largest economies reached an agreement on the text of their phase-one trade deal on the basis of equality and mutual respect and against the backdrop of an extremely complicated international environment, will benefit both countries and contribute to peace and prosperity of the world.

The China and the United States have agreed on the text of a phase one trade agreement, which covers areas including intellectual property rights protection, food and agricultural products purchase and access to financial markets.

The US has agreed to cancel tariffs on Chinese imports step by step, as was announced by China's State Council Information Office.

Review: Trade conflicts between China and the United States

Since 1979, the establishment of diplomatic ties and the signing of trade agreements between China and the United States not only have greatly promoted the development but also bought Friction and conflict.

In May 2018, representatives from the United States came to China to try to reach an agreement on the first round of trade talks. Because of the huge trade surplus between China and the United States, and a variety of reasons, resulting in a growing trade conflict between the two countries.

The US administration has increased tariffs on imports from China since early 2018, slapping 25 percent duties on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods so far. It suspended a prospective tariff increase on those products, from 25 percent to 30 percent, which was set for Oct 15.

In late August, 2018, Trump announced a tariff of 15 percent on a remaining $300 billion in Chinese goods, set for Sept 1. He later delayed more than half of the latest round of tariffs until Dec 15 to blunt the impact on holiday shopping. Many of the products sold during the season are made in China.

Until December 13, 2019, China-US economic and trade consultations have made important progress. The China-US phase one trade deal, reached an agreement on the basis of equality and mutual respect is undoubtedly good news for the manufacturing industry.

What's the impact of a trade war on manufacturing?

What opportunities and challenges do fastener companies face?

To be continued ...