U.S. to impose tariffs on $16B of Chinese imports

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it will go ahead with imposing 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports.

Customs officials will begin collecting the border tax Aug. 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The list is heavy on industrial products such as steam turbines and iron girders.

On July 6, the U.S. began taxing 818 goods, worth $34 billion.

China has been retaliating in kind. And the conflict is likely to escalate: The administration is preparing tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional $200 billion in Chinese products.

Open jobs outnumber U.S. unemployed for 3rd straight month

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers posted slightly more openings in June than the previous month, resulting in more available jobs than unemployed people for the third straight month, signaling a solid economy.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings barely increased, rising 3,000 to 6.66 million. That’s more than the 6.56 million people who were searching for work in June.

Funerals held for 3 Russian journalists killed in Africa

MOSCOW — Funerals have been held in Moscow for three Russian journalists who were killed during a reporting trip in Central African Republic.

Orkhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguyev and Kirill Radchenko were shot last week while investigating a Russian military contractor and Russia’s interests in the African country’s mining industries. Their funerals in Russia took place Tuesday.

Exiled Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who financed the journalists’ work, said the reporters were looking into a private security firm, known as Wagner, which operates in CAR.

The Russian company is linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg entrepreneur dubbed “Putin’s chef ” because his restaurants hosted President Vladimir Putin’s dinners with foreign dignitaries.