This just coming in...
U.S Trade Representative Lighthizer joined by Treasury Secreatry Steven Mnuchin, says the administration would formalize a long-delayed increase in tariffs on 200 billion dollars of Chinese goods to 25-percent from from 10-percent... effective Friday.
The remarks echo a tweet from President Trump on Sunday accusing China of trying to "renegotiate" and warning of raising the tariffs.
The USTR said he did expect to continue with talks with Chinese counterparts in Washington on Thursday and Friday. That would mark a delay from previous expectations of a round set to start Wednesday -one that many observers hoped would yield a deal.
Kim Da-mi gives us the background against which such remarks were made Monday afternoon.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that tariffs of 10 percent on certain Chinese goods will rise to 25 percent on Friday.
Trump said talks with China are going too slowly as Beijing tries to renegotiate.
In the tweet,...Trump said China has been paying tariffs to the United States of 25 percent on 50 billion dollars of high tech goods, and 10 percent on 200 billion dollars worth of other goods.
Trump then threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on an additional 3-hundred and twenty-five billion dollars of Chinese goods “shortly.”
He had initially threatened to increase the tariffs at the beginning of the year...but postponed that decision after China and the U.S. agreed to sit down for trade talks.
The two countries, in fact, had seemed near to striking a trade deal in recent weeks.
Some analysts say that imposing additional tariffs may be part of Trump's strategy to reach a deal with Beijing.
While trade talks between the two are thrown into doubt,...Chinese stock markets plunged on Monday with the Shanghai Composite dropping by more than 5 percent.
Kim Da-mi, Arirang News.