Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Monday that China had reneged on some agreement it has made over the past three months of talks. The new tariffs will take effect on Friday unless a trade deal is reached beforehand. But China on Tuesday responded by saying it will not be cowed by the new threats of higher tariffs. The newspaper reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping had personally taken the hard line in the talks. “Xi told them ‘I’ll be responsible for all possible consequences,’” one of the sources told the paper.

Source: Forbes May 07, 2019 14:03 UTC