China on Thursday announced it would reduce tariffs on thousands of American products, signaling intentions to implement an interim trade agreement with the U.S. as a costly virus epidemic escalated, according to Business Insider.
Retaliatory tariffs will be reduced on $75 billion worth of U.S. products including soybeans, oil and automobiles beginning Feb. 14, China’s finance ministry said. Some of those imports will face tariffs of between 2.5 percent and 5 percent under the change, as opposed to the 5 percent to 10 percent rates that were imposed in September and December.
China was widely expected to reciprocate after the Trump administration agreed in January to reduce tariffs on $120 billion worth of its imports as part of a truce in a nearly two-year-long trade dispute.
Tariffs remain on thousands of other products from the U.S. and China, which plan to continue negotiations toward a broader economic agreement in the coming months.