May 7 (UPI) — A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He is expected to follow through on plans to visit the United States this week, amid U.S. plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the United States will increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent effective 12:01 a.m. Friday, CNBC reported.
Liu and the Chinese delegation are set to engage in talks in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and Friday, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States would be willing to reconsider the tariff hike if negotiations get back on track.
Mnuchin said negotiations with China began to slow down when a U.S. delegation visited Beijing last week.
“We felt we were on track to get somewhere. Over the course of the last week we have seen an erosion of commitments by China. That in our view is unacceptable,” Lighthizer said.
Lighthizer said some issues were unresolved after the most recent meetings, including whether tariffs will remain in place
On Sunday, President Donald Trump tweeted about the tax hike and said the United States will impose new 25 percent tariffs on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods “shortly.”
The state of the negotiations affected the stock market Monday, as the major U.S. indexes opened with losses, but rebounded after news the discussions were set to continue as planned.
