After announcing a new round of tariff hikes on Chinese imports which were to come into effect starting September 1, US President Trump put off duties on some goods to avoid any adverse impact on US consumers’ holiday shopping. The 10% tariffs on consumer goods, mobile phones and laptops will now come into effect from December 15 instead.

While addressing the media on the potential impact of tariffs on US consumers, Trump stated, “Just in case they might have an impact on people, what we’ve done is we’ve delayed it so that they won’t be relevant to the Christmas shopping season”. In addition, Trump expressed optimism that the next round of in-person meetings scheduled for September could still happen.

This announcement sent global stock markets higher on Tuesday, with SPX gaining as much as 1.5%. However, the 10% tariffs proposed on remaining items including food, consumer electronics and clothing will be implemented from September 1. Markets are trading cautiously optimistic that Trump’s decision to delay some of his tariffs could signal an interest in compromise from the US side as negotiations with China towards a trade deal continue.