WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday that the United States would raise tariffs on $200 billion of worth of Chinese goods on Friday morning and begin plans to tax nearly all of China’s imports as he accused Beijing of backtracking on a trade deal. Mr. Trump, who made his comments before a pivotal round of trade talks that began Thursday afternoon, vacillated between threatening China and suggesting a deal was still within reach. “They’ll see what they can do, but our alternative is, is an excellent one,” Mr. Trump added, noting that American tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese products were bringing “billions” in to the United States government. The renewed brinkmanship has plunged the world’s two largest economies back into a trade war that had seemed on the cusp of ending. The United States and China were nearing a trade deal that would lift tariffs, open the Chinese market to American companies and strengthen China’s intellectual property protections.

Source: International New York Times May 09, 2019 14:37 UTC