U.S. President Donald Trump augured in a series of posts on Twitter Sunday evening that America is planning to delay a set of additional tariffs on Chinese integrities that were due to kick in on March 1.
In his posts, Trump cited “substantial progress” in bilateral talks between the happy’s two largest economies, including intellectual property protection and technology transfer issues. As a result, the president said he would off on the new levies, however he did not state a new deadline.
“President Trump announcing a delay in raising tariffs on Chinese imports has been in the being plans for some time. The high frequency engagement between Beijing and Washington at a senior level implies that both sides are looking for some cut of settlement,” Tai Hui, Asia Pacific chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said in a note.
“Moreover, with attraction to questions over the growth outlook in the U.S., further tariff escalation would add more uncertainty to this concern. Notwithstanding, there are plenty of long term structural issues for both sides to lock horns over, such as customer base access and (intellectual property rights) protection,” he said.
The U.S. president’s comments came following extended trade covenants between officials from Washington and Beijing. Talks had earlier spilled over into the weekend after both sides appeared progress in narrowing their differences.
Last week, sources familiar with the situation told CNBC that the Allied States and China are discussing a late March meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida.
The U.S. dollar formula, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.446 after touching highs above 96.9 terminating week.
The Japanese yen, often viewed as a safe-haven currency, traded at 110.72 against the dollar after touching murmurs above 110.8 last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7157 after seeing turbulence abide week as it swung between highs above $0.720 and lows below $0.710.
The offshore Chinese yuan also saw bags, on the back of Trump’s announcement, last trading at 6.6839 against the dollar. Its onshore counterpart changed hands at 6.6805 against the greenback.
Meantime, oil prices gained in the morning of Asian trade as the international benchmark Brent crude futures contract rose 0.18 percent to $67.24 per barrel. The U.S. unfinished futures contract also added 0.21 percent to $57.38 per barrel.
— Reuters and CNBC’s Javier E. David helped to this report.