Top US business groups have warned President Donald Trump against keeping tariffs on Chinese goods if he reaches a trade deal with Beijing, as corporate America grows increasingly anxious that trade tensions will linger even after a pact is sealed.

In a letter to Mr Trump on Monday, lobby organisations including representatives of US retailers, oil producers, fisheries, and software companies called for the “full and immediate removal of all added tariffs” on Chinese goods in a deal, saying anything less would be a “loss for the American people”. 

“American businesses and farmers?.?.?.?were promised that tariffs were merely a means to an end, and that all this damage would be worth it,” they wrote to Mr Trump. “A deal that fails to lift tariffs would represent a broken promise to these hardworking Americans.”