The agreement comes after talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Both sides agreed to drop their tariff rates by 115%, which means Washington will cut additional tariffs on Beijing from 145% to 30%, while China will slash its 125% tariff on US imports to 10%.

The tariff pause is expected to kick in on Wednesday, after both sides agreed to a mechanism through which to continue discussions on economic and trade policy. The Geneva meetings were the first face-to-face interactions between senior US and Chinese economic officials since US President, Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Following his return, Trump launched of a tariff blitz, imposing particularly hefty duties on China, to which, China responded in kind. The tit-for-tat tariffs imposed by the world's largest economies brought a $600 billion two-way trade relationship to a standstill, while driving market uncertainty.

Market futures were positive on Monday morning on the news out of Geneva. SOQ

---SABC---