China extends its pause on the 24% tariff on US goods and on port fees for US ships by two months

China on Monday extended for two months the suspension of its additional 24% tariff on US imports and the suspension of special port fees on US-linked ships, Reuters reported. The State Council said the 24% tariff stays suspended for two months from 1:01 p.m. Beijing time (0501 GMT) on Tuesday, but a 10% tariff remains in force.

What was extended

• 24% additional tariff on US goods: still suspended for two months, from Tuesday afternoon. The 10% levy stays.
• Port fees on US-linked vessels: suspension runs to January 10, 2027, according to China's transport ministry.
• Shipping and shipbuilding supply-chain probe: remains suspended, the ministry said.

The dates line up with the truce deadline we covered in September, when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the arrangement due to lapse on Nov. 10 would run to Jan. 10: see our earlier report.

The line in the statement that matters

China's tariff commission said it was extending the suspension to carry out the "outcomes and consensus" of the leaders' Washington meeting in September. It also said it has "noted" that the US has repeatedly said it intends to use Section 301 tariffs to replace the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that courts have held invalid, and that it will "closely follow" US measures and adjust its countermeasures "as appropriate". That is a warning shot: if Section 301 duties land on Chinese goods, the suspended 24% is the obvious lever. Our piece on the Section 301 court fight covers the US side.

The unfinished package

After the September summit both sides proposed a $60 billion package of reciprocal tariff cuts, including roughly $17 billion of US farm goods that China imported in 2024. Reuters says it has yet to be finalised. We covered the thin detail of the two sides' lists in our report on the tariff lists.

Who it matters to

US exporters of farm goods and anyone shipping into Chinese ports face the same costs on Wednesday as on Monday, which is the point: the extension removes a cliff, not a tariff. The port-fee relief matters to operators of US-linked ships, who would otherwise have faced special charges at Chinese ports. Importers and shippers planning holiday and first-quarter volumes now have a Jan. 10 date to work to, and a fresh reason to watch what Washington does on Section 301 before then.

Sources: Reuters via Investing.com, Nov. 9, 2026, quoting China's State Council tariff commission and transport ministry. This is market information, not investment advice.