The United States has extended a pause on tariffs for certain Chinese imports until August 31, amidst stalled negotiations between the world’s two largest economies. This move affects a range of goods, including intermediate components, semiconductor parts, and solar equipment. The tariffs in question, set at 10%, were initially introduced during President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an investigation into China’s policies on technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. Most of these tariffs were retained by his successor, Joe Biden, who also continued exemptions for various products.

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that these exemptions, which were due to expire, will now be extended for another three months. This extension includes 164 Chinese goods, such as semiconductor components, telecommunications hardware, aerospace items, and medical device parts. Additionally, exemptions for 14 categories of Chinese solar panel manufacturing equipment, including wafer slicers and module laminators, which were granted in September 2024, will also remain in place.

This development follows a tentative agreement reached in May between the US and China, after weeks of retaliatory tariff hikes. In April, the US raised duties on Chinese goods to as high as 145%, citing an unfair trade imbalance. China responded with tariffs of up to 125%. The May deal involved suspending most new tariffs for 90 days, pending further talks, while maintaining a baseline 10% rate on mutual imports.

However, both countries have expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the talks. The US claims that China has not fulfilled its promises to rollback export controls on key industrial products, such as rare-earth minerals and magnets. These controls were introduced by China in response to US tariff hikes. Recently, Trump accused China of “totally violating” the May agreement.

China has retaliated by accusing the US of breaching the terms of the deal. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce pointed to several US actions that it claims violate the agreement, including warnings against Chinese telecom giant Huawei, restrictions on chip design software sales to Chinese firms, and the cancellation of student visas for Chinese nationals. As the trade tensions between the two economic giants continue, the extension of the tariff pause offers a temporary reprieve, but the long-term resolution to their trade disputes remains uncertain.