US sets new date for tariff hikes

■ The US Trade Representative’s office on Friday officially changed the scheduled date of a tariff rate increase on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 12:01am EST (0501 GMT) on March 2, 2019 as the US and China pursue talks on trade and intellectual property.

The change was made in a Federal Register filing from a previously scheduled effective date of January 1, 2019 for the increase to 25 per cent from 10 per cent.

The notice does not affect the 25 per cent tariff rate already in place on $50 billion worth of Chinese technology items.

It attributed the change to new US-Chinese engagement “with the goal of obtaining the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices covered in the investigation” following a December 1 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires.