CEOs rush to get their shipments from China while trade truce lasts

Business leaders welcome 90-day reprieve but call for longer-term trade deal

- Suzanne Kapner, Ruth Simon & John Keilman

SharkNinja Chief Executive Mark Barrocas was obsessively checking his news feed Sunday night, looking for any sign that the U.S. and China would reach a tariff deal.

Early Monday morning, the news came: a 90-day reprieve in which the U.S. would lower tariffs to 30% from 145%.

Barrocas immediately instructed factories in China to release goods bound for the U.S., including coffee makers and the Ninja Slushie, a frozen-drink maker. "We had hundreds of containers ready to leave China when the tariffs went into effect," Barrocas said. "Now, we'll be able to put them on a boat."

Businesses across the U.S. that rely on Chinese imports have been stuck for weeks, trying to figure out how to navigate the sky-high tariffs that President Trump imposed on Chinese goods in April. Companies have been raising prices, cutting back on spending and laying off workers, all in an effort to weather the new cost of tariffs.

Now the truce could unstick the de facto trade embargo between the two countries. On Monday, U.S. stocks surged, the dollar jumped, and investors scaled back bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Many companies said they would quickly get their goods onto ships destined for American ports.

Jennifer Burch, co-founder of Hightail Hair, learned about the tariff deal when her husband and co-founder Jon Dazeley came into the couple's bedroom Monday morning. "That was definitely welcome news," said Burch.