Trump Says Deadline Will Be Extended if 'Substantial Progress' Is Made With China

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Feb. 22 that he wanted the Chinese delegation to tell China's president "that if I see progress being made, substantial progress being made, it would not be inappropriate to extend that deadline, keep it at 10 percent instead of raising it to 25 percent. And I would be inclined to doing that." He was referring to the 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods set to rise to 25 percent March 2 if no other deal is reached (see 1902190044).

Trump said when he set the March 1 deadline, he thought it was enough time, but now, "we're covering things that we didn't even know we would be covering. We're going very deep into the trade and covering items that a lot of people wanted to cover and nobody thought we would ever get to." He turned to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and said he thought another month or so would be enough time, and Mnuchin interrupted to say, "I think our expectation is to conclude this quickly and, if we get to the point over the next few days of making progress, recommending a meeting for you and President Xi in March."