Mnuchin says China tariffs are ‘on hold’ as officials hold deficit talks

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said US tariffs on China are “on hold” as the two economic powerhouses have reached a framework to reduce the trade deficit with China.

President Trump had previously threatened up to $150 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports over accusations of intellectual property theft.

The US braced for an economic collision as Trump declared in March: “Trade wars are good and easy to win.”

“We’re putting the trade war on hold,” Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday.” “Right now, we have agreed to put tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework.”

After rounds of trade talks with China, Mnuchin said: “We have an agreement with China that they will substantially agree to it.”

The secretary declined to say whether the agreement sets a specific target of $200 billion to reduce the trade deficit, but he said the deal has goals for each industry.

“We are immediately going to follow this up with [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross going there with very hard commitments in agriculture, where we expect to see a very big increase – 35-40 percent increases – in agriculture this year alone,” Mnuchin said.

“In energy, doubling the energy purchases. I think that you could see $50, $60 billion a year of energy purchases over the next three to five years. And strategically, that’s very important for us and very important for them.”