President Donald Trump is readying a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese goods ahead of scheduled trade talks with Beijing, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, which is expected to affect $200 billion worth of goods. The president is also expected to threaten to hike tariffs again to squeeze Beijing at the negotiating table, the report noted. In the last several weeks, Trump has repeatedly signaled he could pull the trigger on new tariffs — which could impact a wide range of consumer goods — whenever he deemed the timing appropriate. This week, the president met with trade advisors, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the reports said. Mnuchin had been spearheading attempts to restart trade talks with China.

Source: Wall Street Journal September 15, 2018 20:15 UTC