China cancels trade talks in Washington

Trump’s biggest round of tariffs set to take effect.

WASHINGTON — Chinese officials have canceled plans to meet with Trump administration officials in Washington this week as the trade dispute between the two countries has heated up.

A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said Saturday that the talks between China’s vice premier, Liu He, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were no longer planned. The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks were off.

The cancellation comes as President Donald Trump’s plan to put his biggest round of tariffs on Chinese goods takes effect Monday, when the United States will begin taxing $200 billion in imports from China. The tariffs, which will start at 10 percent, are set to rise to 25 percent on Jan. 1.

Trump has threatened to tax nearly all Chinese imports and add another round of tariffs on $267 billion in products if Beijing retaliates.

Another senior White House official told reporters in a background briefing Friday that the administration was developing contingency plans in the event of additional retaliation from China. The official said the rollout of the tariffs Monday had been in the works for a while.

The official added that there were still back-channel discussions between the two countries.