Trump Threatens China With Massive Tariff Spike Ahead of Final Trade Talks

President Trump said Sunday that tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would rise dramatically Friday, in what appears to be an attempt to put pressure on Chinese negotiators who will arrive in Washington this week to hammer out a trade deal. “For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods [...] The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday,” Trump wrote in a tweet cited by The New York Times, adding that an additional $325 billion worth of goods will be taxed “shortly.” The tweets come just before what many believe to be the final round of trade talks between the U.S. and China. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin went as far as to say that negotiations are in their “final laps”—but Trump complained Sunday that he isn’t seeing results soon enough. “The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate,” he wrote. “No!” Later Sunday night, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He reportedly canceled his upcoming trip to Washington. It’s not yet clear if other members of the delegation will follow suit.