Trump Issues Tariff Threat and China Considers Pulling Out of Talks

05/06/2019

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Bob Davis, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Lingling Wei | Wall Street Journal

President Trump threatened to drastically ramp up U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, a surprise twist that put an accord in doubt as Beijing considered pulling out of talks scheduled to begin this week.

In a pair of Twitter messages Sunday, Mr. Trump wrote he planned to raise levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25% starting Friday, from 10% currently. He also wrote he would impose 25% tariffs “shortly” on $325 billion in Chinese goods that haven’t yet been taxed.

“The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate,” the president tweeted. “No!”

Mr. Trump’s tweets surprised many Chinese officials, according to a person briefed on the matter Monday, and China is considering canceling trade talks that are to resume in Washington starting Wednesday. There has been widespread expectations in recent days that an accord could be reached by Friday.

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