China to halt added tariffs on US-made cars in easing of trade tensions

China will temporarily suspend additional 25 percent tariffs on US-made vehicles and auto parts starting Jan. 1, 2019, the finance ministry said, following a truce in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The Ministry of Finance, in a statement on its website, also said that it hopes China and the US can speed up negotiations to remove all additional tariffs on each other’s goods as it reduces tariffs from 40 percent to the 15 percent level that was levied before the current trade fight began. The suspension will last for three months.

US President Donald Trump welcomed the announcement.

“China just announced that their economy is growing much slower than anticipated because of our Trade War with them. They have just suspended US Tariff Hikes,” Trump said in a tweet. “US is doing very well. China wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. It could happen, and rather soon!”

Shortly after the Chinese announcement, Tesla Inc. said it had cut prices on its Model S and Model X vehicles in China.

“This is a good signal that China and the United States are on track to solve the trade war,” said Wang Cun, director of the China Automobile Dealers Association’s import committee. “Car makers might be ordering a large number of imported cars now.”

Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Motor Co’s global operations, also welcomed Beijing’s announcement, noting that the US automaker exported nearly 50,000 US-built vehicles to China in 2017.

“We applaud both governments for working together constructively to reduce trade barriers and open markets,” Hinrichs said.

Ford shares rose 2 percent on Friday.

In July, China hiked its tariffs on US autos and parts after the US raised its tariffs on Chinese vehicles and parts to 27.5 percent. Automakers do not expect the US to immediately cut its higher tariffs on Chinese imports in response to China’s move.

Auto exports between the two countries are relatively small. China exported 53,300 vehicles to the US market last year and imported 280,208 US manufactured vehicles, according to data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC), a government-affiliated think-tank.

In contrast, in the first 11 months of this year, China produced 25.3 million cars, down 2.6 percent from the same period last year, industry figures showed.

Wang said car makers in China that imported cars from the US had seen a 30 percent decline in volume in the first 10 months of 2018, but the tariff cut would bring imports back to previous levels.