The following statement is attributed to Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA), regarding President Donald Trump’s decision to not raise the 10 percent tariffs on Chinese products to 25 percent:

“We’re encouraged to see Presidents Trump and Xi working together to reduce trade barriers between the U.S. and China. We applaud President Trump’s decision not to raise tariffs to 25 percent on Jan. 1. While China's restrictive measures should be addressed, tariffs are taxes – and these past five months since the tariffs went into effect hurt U.S. businesses and consumers. Through September, the tech industry alone paid $349 million more on imported goods from China – a nearly 200 percent increase compared to last year – and more than doubling the ten percent tariff rate would likely hurt consumers, put several American companies out of business and displace thousands of American workers. We look forward to continued progress between the U.S. and China – eliminating the current tariffs and not adding new trade taxes to even more products – so we can keep our economy strong and our job creation growing.”