Hours after top economic adviser Larry Kudlow claimed the 90-day trade ceasefire with China would begin Jan. 1, the White House said the truce actually began Dec. 1, reports The Hill.
President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to the truce at the G-20 summit over the weekend. The ceasefire will allow time for the world's two largest economies to smooth out a dispute over Chinese technology policies the U.S. and other trading partners consider predatory.
Trump and Xi made the truce over dinner.
As a result, the U.S. plan to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25 percent Jan. 1 were delayed, and China in return agreed to buy a "very substantial amount" of agricultural, energy, and industrial products from the U.S. to reduce the trade deficit.
Kudlow earlier Monday told reporters the start date was Jan. 1.
"That's right," he said when pressed by a reporter.
The White House last Saturday said Trump and Xi "agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services, and agriculture. Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days."
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