With their trade war in unchartered waters, having expanded from tit-for-tat tariffs to a tug of war over "entity" blacklists and U.S. threats of banning American businesses from operating in China , U.S. and Chinese negotiators have agreed to a tentative, narrow — and fragile — reprieve. Two days of talks ended Oct. 11 with a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice Premier Liu He, China's chief negotiator, and the announcement that Beijing and Washington had reached a "phase one" agreement. As a result, the White House will delay its planned Oct. 15 tariff increase on $250 billion in Chinese goods.