Trump won’t stop higher tariffs on China

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, heaping pressure on China to make trade concessions ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, is signaling that he will not back down from his plan to escalate tariffs in January.

Administration officials have been making arrangements for a meeting between Trump and Xi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina on Friday and Saturday. And with both sides previously indicating a willingness to make a deal, that had raised hopes that Trump could announce a freeze on his previously stated plan to raise tariffs on imported Chinese goods Jan. 1. A freeze would be an important step that could lead to a cease-fire in an escalating trade war between the two largest economies.

But The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Trump, in an interview with the newspaper, said that it is “highly unlikely” he would agree to Beijing's request to hold off on raising tariffs.

Trump in September slapped 10 percent duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese products and indicated that the rate would jump to 25 percent in January, part of a series of actions intended to punish Beijing for alleged theft of intellectual property and other unfair economic behavior.

Trump has been known to make threats and back off, and analysts say anything can happen at the Group of 20 summit given the president's unpredictability. But his comments just four days before the gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies could rattle financial markets and dampen hopes of an easing of tensions between the two countries.

Stocks in recent weeks have been dragged down in part by concerns of increasing U.S.China trade tensions and the damage that could inflict on a global economy already showing some signs of slowing growth.