BACK AND FORTH

China: All Trade Agreements Off if Trump Imposes Tariffs

After Beijing earlier agreed to “substantially” cut down on the trade deficit.

China has threatened to scrap all agreements made so far in trade talks with the U.S. if President Trump imposes tariffs on the country. “If the U.S. rolls out trade measures including tariffs, all the agreements reached in the negotiations won’t take effect,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Chinese officials as saying Sunday. Trump announced plans to slap 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports last week despite having earlier reached an agreement for Beijing to boost its purchases of U.S. goods. Beijing’s ultimatum came after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He for what he described as a “friendly and frank” discussion on trade. During his visit, Ross reportedly sought a more specific commitment from Beijing on its pledge to “substantially” cut down on the U.S. trade deficit.