China suspends planned tariffs on US goods
Beijing: Beijing suspended additional tariffs on US products that had been due to kick in on Sunday, after Washington and Beijing announced a major thaw in their trade war Friday.
China will suspend the planned addition of 10 percent and 5 percent tariffs on some US imports, and "continue to suspend additional tariffs on US-made autos and spare parts", China's finance ministry announced Sunday. The move follows US President Trump's cancellation of new tariffs on Chinese products as part of a "phase one" trade deal.
China's commerce ministry said on Friday it had agreed with the US a mini-deal that includes a progressive rollback of tariffs and the protection of intellectual property rights.
The two sides have yet to sign the agreement, which represents a major breakthrough in the 21-month standoff between the world's two largest economies.
In addition to existing tariffs, Trump had previously threatened to impose a 15 percent levy on Sunday on around 160 billion of Chinese exports, including popular US consumer goods like electronics and clothing.
China had said it would respond with a 25 percent tariff on US autos and a five percent tariff on auto parts -- levies that were suspended earlier this year as a goodwill gesture.
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BJP using women's quota bill as front to pass Delimitation Bill that will break India: Mamata
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
