Trade War 2019 – That threat was made during talks Friday in Washington, hours after Trump upped the ante by imposing a second round of punitive duties on $200 billion in Chinese goods. China vowed retaliation, but hadn’t announced any details as of Saturday evening in Beijing.
Mr Trump said talks between Washington and Beijing will continue even after a deadline passed on Friday for them to reach an agreement.
As a result the US raised tariffs to 25% from 10% on goods from China.
China says it “deeply regrets” the US action and would have to take “necessary counter-measures”.
However Beijing also confirmed on Friday that further negotiations would take place following two days of what were described as “honest” and “constructive” talks.
The latest US move raises tariffs on $200bn (£153.7bn) worth of Chinese imports.
What has Trump said?
On top of the tariffs implemented on Friday, Mr Trump said a process had begun to place the full 25% tariff on a further $325bn of Chinese goods.
The tariffs taken in would be used to buy US agricultural goods, which would then be used for “humanitarian assistance”, Mr Trump said.
The president tweeted that, depending on the outcome of future negotiations, the tariffs “may or may not” be removed.
Trump’s move to raise tariffs on Friday came after China backed away from prior commitments to enshrine changes promised at the negotiating table in Chinese law, according to U.S. officials. During his meetings in Washington this week Liu said China was ready to commit to pushing reforms via State Council directives but again balked at changing any laws, according to one person familiar with the discussions.
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In his interview Liu said both sides agreed to keep talking despite what he called “some temporary resistance and distractions,’’ and to hold future meetings in Beijing. He dismissed the idea that talks had broken down. “It’s normal to have hiccups during the negotiations. It’s inevitable.”
Liu also struck a note of defiance. “For the interest of the people of China, the people of U.S. and the the people of the whole world, we will deal with this rationally,” the vice premier said. “But China is not afraid, nor are the Chinese people,” adding that “China needs a cooperative agreement with equality and dignity.”
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