The Trump administration said it would delay imposing a 10 per cent tariff on a series of consumer goods imported from China — including laptops and cell phones — until December, in a bid to ease fears about the trade war’s impact on markets and the economy.

The reprieve from Washington, which triggered a relief rally in US equity markets, was announced after Liu He, China’s vice premier, spoke with Robert Lighthizer, US trade representative, and Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, by phone on Tuesday and agreed to have another conversation in two weeks. 

Speaking in New Jersey on Tuesday, Donald Trump said he was delaying the new tariffs on some products to protect shoppers “for the Christmas season”. He said the decision was made after a “very good call” with China, and repeated his mantra that Beijing would “really like to make a deal”.