Over the weekend, after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House announced a change of plans: Trump will hold off on raising tariffs on Chinese products to 25 percent for 90 days.

How will the temporary truce affect you in the midst of this holiday shopping season? It doesn't mean things will become cheaper; it just means they won't necessarily get more expensive.

"What the president announced was merely a pause in escalation," says David French, senior vice president for government relations at the National Retail Federation. The 10 percent tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese products coming into the U.S. remain in effect, and companies have already responded to those tariffs by increasing the prices of some goods.

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods but, according to French, they're functionally just "taxes on American consumers."

And despite the truce, the future remains uncertain. On Tuesday, Trump threatened China if negotiations fall through, dubbing himself a "Tariff Man." In September, he said, on top of the goods already targeted, he had an additional $267 billion in tariffs "ready to go."

Escalation of the conflict could end up further increasing prices for consumers.