Trump imposes next batch of China tariffs

Bloomberg

The Trump administration’s tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods kicked in on Monday, ramping up a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
The latest round of US duties took effect just after midnight Washington time on Monday on a list of products ranging from frozen meat to television components. China is poised to retaliate with tariffs on $60 billion in US goods, a move that Trump has said would spur new duties on another $267 billion in Chinese imports.
If the president follows through on the escalation threat, US tariffs would cover all goods the nation imported from China last year. The conflict risks descending into a war of attrition that economists warn could undermine the global economy and upend the supply chains of multinational companies.
There’s a growing consensus in Beijing that substantive talks will only be possible after US mid-term elections in November. Even as both sides slap fresh levies on each others’ products, they have peppered statements with offers to talk.
“President Trump has an excellent relationship with President Xi and our teams have been in frequent communication since Trump took office,” Lindsay Walters, deputy White House press secretary, said. “We remain open to continuing discussions with China, but China must meaningfully engage on the unfair trading practices.”
Neither side has backed down since the tit-for-tat tariff war began in July, when the US imposed duties on $34 billion of Chinese goods. The Trump administration imposed a further $16 billion in August. China retaliated in kind to both moves.

No talks unless Trump stops threats: Beijing
Bloomberg

China dashed prospects for a near-term resolution to the trade war with the US, warning President Donald Trump his threats of further tariffs are blocking any
potential negotiations.
“The door for trade talks is always open but negotiations must be held in an
environment of mutual respect,” according to a white paper carried by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Negotiations “cannot be carried out under the threat
of tariffs.”