US President Donald Trump has delayed a tariff increase on billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports, citing "substantial progress" in recent trade talks between the two nations.

Key points: Donald Trump sent two tweets late on Sunday night announcing the tariff increase delay

Donald Trump sent two tweets late on Sunday night announcing the tariff increase delay The market reaction thus far has been subdued, with the Australian dollar rising slightly to 71.6 US cents

The market reaction thus far has been subdued, with the Australian dollar rising slightly to 71.6 US cents Mr Trump said he hoped to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida mansion to conclude a trade agreement

Tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports into the US were set to rise from 10 per cent to 25 per cent this Friday.

However, with the self-imposed deadline looming, Mr Trump cited progress made during trade talks in Washington DC last week as a reason to delay the tariff increase.

In two tweets posted late on Sunday US time, Mr Trump said he hoped to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his Florida mansion to seal a trade deal.

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"I am pleased to report that the US has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues," Mr Trump wrote.

"As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1.

"Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for US & China!"

Mr Trump's March 1 deadline had been imposed as the US sought a deal to address key concerns around intellectual property theft, compulsory technology transfer to Chinese companies for access to its market, alleged currency manipulation and other trade issues.

Muted market response

The market reaction thus far has been subdued, with the Australian dollar rising slightly from 71.3 to 71.6 US cents and the ASX 200 share index climbing 0.3 per cent to 6,185 by 11:45am (AEDT).

InvestSmart's chief market strategist Evan Lucas said traders anticipated Mr Trump again delaying the tariff deadline.

"Markets have known this has been coming for probably about four or five weeks," he told ABC News.

"The markets should be positive, but I don't expect them to rip higher off the back of this because I believe this is a known known, and realistically, it's just kicking the can down the road."

Mr Lucas said it was hard to see much more upside from the trade negotiations, unless China was willing to concede a lot of ground in some key areas.

"Most of what's going on is being priced in because markets see this as a new movement — the import tariffs are unlikely to go away anytime soon," he said.

"Whether or not China budges on things around intellectual property or whether or not it budges around what it is currently doing with the US car-making market, that would be a big win for him [Mr Trump] and that would be a reason for him to remove tariffs."