U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that while the 25 per cent tariff on Chinese imports will remain in place, the 15 per cent levy on other goods has been halved; another round of tariffs meant to take effect Sunday will not go through. Trump said the agreement covered energy and manufactured goods, among others; Chinese Commerce Vice-Minister Wang Shouwen mentioned issues like agriculture, tech transfer and IP protection. (The Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: The trade war between the two countries has put a damper on the global economy. The U.S. tariffs hit the tech sector particularly hard; many device parts are manufactured in China and faced price increases as a result, affecting the likes of Apple, whose supply chain relies heavily on the country, and Google, which was moving the production of its Pixel phone to Vietnam. The pared-down levies, which come just ahead of the holiday season, are in exchange for concessions from China, including a pledge to purchase tens of billions of dollars in U.S. farm goods. Still to come are negotiations on more contentious issues, on which neither party elaborated.