Economics
U.S. Keeps China Tariff Threat Open as Talks Near Final Stage
- Trump trade negotiator declines to predict success of talks
- U.S. considering China request to roll back trade tariffs
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President Donald Trump’s top trade negotiator said the U.S. must keep the option of raising tariffs on Chinese imports as a way to ensure Beijing lives up to a trade agreement that could be finalized in a matter of weeks.
“We have to maintain the right to be able to -- whatever happens to the current tariffs -- to raise tariffs in situations where there’s violations of the agreement,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. “I can’t predict success at this point, but we’re working hard and we have made real progress.”