US-China Trade War Comes to Temporary Halt

Just in time for the holiday season, the trade war between the US and China is coming to a temporary halt. Over the weekend President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China agreed to put a stop to the escalating tariffs. Trump promised to leave the established tariffs on Chinese products at 10% instead of increasing them to 25% as he originally planned. In return, President Xi agreed to begin buying certain specified US products to reduce the "trade imbalance."

For the alcohol beverage industry in the US, this is good news for exporters of wine and whiskey/bourbon. US producers who have felt the pinch of being uncompetitive in the Chinese market since the implementation of the tariffs are breathing a sigh of relief at the halt, however temporary it may be.

Presidents Trump and Xi plan to come to a formal agreement within a 90 day time frame, but if no negotiation can be reached, the tariffs will increase to 25% as was intended. For now, we watch and wait for news on whether the added tariffs will or will not be applied in three months time. We will continue to keep you updated on this situation and please reach out to us if you have any questions.

Geiger, David. "U.S. and China enter 90 day trade truce." KCRG.com. Dec 4, 2018.