The following speaks to possibly two things: One being tactical, the other being simply good economics:
“China is planning to cut the average tariff rates on imports from the majority of its trading partners as soon as next month, two people familiar with the matter said, in a move that will lower costs for consumers as a trade war with the U.S. deepens.”
The tactical aspect of the above is simply that China, by actually going dramatically in the other direction vs the U.S. in trade (assuming there are some U.S. products in the mix), is willing to risk appearing weak to its populace in order to facilitate an end to escalating trade tensions. We can presume they’ll bill it as ‘taking the high road’.
The good economics of it is: emphasis mine…
“China is following through on long-stated goals to boost imports. The move comes as the nation is trying to stimulate domestic consumption to support a slowing economy, and follows similar cuts to tariffs in July on a wide range of consumer goods.”
Clearly, in this regard, Chinese policymakers are receiving sound economic counsel, as history proves conclusively that the countries with open markets to foreign goods sport prosperous, and economically active, citizens.