As you are aware, earlier this year, the U.S. proposed new tariffs on $50 billion worth of products from China due to a Section 301 investigation.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the proposed new tariffs on Chinese imports will be put on hold while the United States and China are in the process of negotiating an agreement. Shortly after Mnuchin announced the hold, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made a statement that seemed to take a different stance, stating that tariffs remained an important tool to protect our technology.

Mnuchin told Fox News Sunday on May 20th that, “I’m pleased to report that we’ve made very meaningful progress and we’ve agreed on a framework, which is important to understand, and the framework includes their agreement to substantially reduce the trade deficit by increasing their purchasing of goods.”

President Trump and Kim Jong Un are set to meet June 12th, and many are speculating that the agreement to put tariffs on hold is only intended to last until the conclusion of that visit.

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.