President Trump engaged in a running trade war with Beijing through the entirety of 2019, threatening and enacting tariffs at times while pulling back at other points in the hopes of getting a broader deal. Ultimately, the efforts brought the White House little closer to a deal with Beijing than it was at the beginning of the year. Here is a timeline of the major events throughout the year.
Jan. 7-9 — U.S. officials arrive in Beijing for preliminary talks, and both sides express optimism following conclusion of the talks, with the United States noting Chinese commitment to buy U.S. goods.
Jan. 30-31 — Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrives in the U.S. for talks. Trump emphasizes that no deal is final until he and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly agree to it.
Feb. 21-24 — Liu returns to the U.S. for talks with his counterparts U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The talks are extended two days beyond the initial schedule. Trump announces via Twitter that some Chinese tariffs increases scheduled for March are being delayed. Trump and Lighthizer engage in an impromptu public debate over what constitutes putting a trade deal in writing.
March 1 — The Trump administration officially halts a planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods to 25%, up from 10%, to allow for further talks between trade negotiators. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Trump administration is seeking the ability to enact “automatic” tariffs as an enforcement mechanism if China violates any deal.
March 20 — Trump says he will not lift existing tariffs until he is certain Beijing is abiding by any deal, despite Chinese officials saying that removal of tariffs is crucial to any progress.
April 30-May 1 — Lighthizer and Mnuchin return to Beijing for talks. Behind the scenes, a breakdown occurs when Beijing rejects policy changes that U.S. negotiators thought had already been agreed to. U.S. negotiators claim Beijing reneged on elements of the deal.
May 5 — Trump announces in a tweet that, starting on May 10, he will hike tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, up from 10%, in order to pressure Beijing to reach a deal. In the following days Trump explains that China “broke” the existing deal and is being punished. China rejects the claim that any deal existed.
May 8 — Trump claims Beijing is deliberately slow-walking trade talks in the hopes that he is defeated for reelection and replaced with a Democrat.
May 10 — Trump threatens further tariff hikes on $300 billion worth of goods. Beijing vows to retaliate.
June 1 — Beijing places tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods.
June 6 — Trump says that he will decide on whether to impose 25% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods on Dec. 15 after the G-20 summit in Japan at the end of the month. He says his administration is preparing “at least” $300 billion in new tariffs on their goods if the talks fall apart.
June 28-29 — Trump and Xi meet at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, and agree to a cooling period in the trade war. Trump declares the talks “back on track.“
July 5 — White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow tells Bloomberg that the status of blacklisted Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei will be an issue in the upcoming trade talks with Beijing.
July 9 — U.S. and Beijing officials hold their first trade talks since the May breakdown.
Aug. 1 — Trump, again accusing Beijing of backtracking in the trade talks, tweets that the U.S. will place an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of imports from China. “China agreed to buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so,” Trump says, adding it reneged on a promise to stop the sale of fentanyl to the U.S.
Aug. 5 — The Treasury Department labels China as a currency manipulator. “As a result of this determination, Secretary Mnuchin will engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China’s latest actions,” the agency states.
Aug. 9 — Trump tells reporters that he is “not ready” to make a deal with China and that upcoming September talks might be canceled.
Aug. 13 — Liu, Lighthizer, and Mnuchin hold talks over the telephone. Trump announces that the White House will delay implementing 10% tariffs on some Chinese goods previously set to go into effect on Sept. 1 in order to not disrupt the fall and winter holiday shopping season.
Aug. 23 — Beijing hikes tariffs on U.S. goods. Trump tweets: “Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.”
Aug. 27 — China denies a claim by Trump that talks occurred over the weekend. The White House concedes that communications have been limited since the May breakdown.
Sept. 1 — 15% tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese goods go into effect while existing tariffs on some consumer goods, mainly consumer electronics, rise to 30%, up from 25%.
Sept. 11 — The U.S. delays imposing some tariffs on Beijing. “[W]e have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th,” Trump tweets.
Sept. 12 — Beijing backs away from its previous demand that the status of telecom company Huawei, which has been blacklisted by the U.S., be included in the trade talks.
Oct. 7 — The U.S. places eight Chinese companies on a blacklist for being complicit in human rights violations.
Oct. 11 — The U.S. and Beijing agree to a partial trade deal, with the subsequent details to be placed into writing. White House officials subsequently concede much of the agreement has yet to be committed to writing.
Oct. 24 — Vice President Mike Pence slams the NBA as “acting like a wholly owned subsidiary” of the Chinese Communist Party for censoring support of Hong Kong protesters and credits the ongoing trade talks with having pushed Beijing to dial back its crackdown of the protests.
Oct. 30 — Chile cancels the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit it was set to host due to internal domestic turmoil, disrupting plans for Trump and Xi to discuss ‘phase one’ of the trade deal. Both sides say talks will continue at another location.
Nov. 1 — Kudlow says progress is being made in talks with China except on the issue of forced technology transfers. “That will probably slip into phase two,” he tells reporters.
Nov. 8 — Trump disputes reports he has agreed to remove tariffs as part of phase one of the Oct. 11 deal. “They would like to have a rollback. I haven’t agreed to anything,” Trump tells reporters.
Nov. 22 — Trump tells Fox News he might veto legislation to condemn Beijing for crackdowns on Hong Kong protesters, citing the fact that his administration is “in the process of making one of the largest trade deals in history.” Kudlow says in a speech that the Oct. 11 deal may need three phases instead of the previously expected two parts.
Nov. 27 — Trump signs legislation expressing support for Hong Kong protesters but avoids being directly critical of Beijing.
Dec. 3 — Trump says there is “no deadline” on the trade talks with Beijing and the negotiations may extend past the 2020 election.
Dec. 13 — Trump tweets that the White House and Beijing have completed “phase one” of the Oct. 11 deal and the administration will indefinitely postpone the new tariffs previously set to start on Dec. 15.
Dec. 31 — Trump announces that he will go to Beijing in 2020 to begin ‘phase two’ of talks over the Oct. 11 agreement.
