U.S. ADDS TARIFFS ON $200B MORE OF CHINESE GOODS

Administration excludes bicycle helmets, smart watches from its list

WASHINGTON» The Trump administration will impose tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese goods starting next week, escalating a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies and potentially raising prices on consumer goods ranging from handbags to bicycle tires.

The tariffs will start at 10 percent, beginning Monday of next week, and then rise to 25 percent on Jan. 1.

President Donald Trump made the announcement Monday evening in a move that is sure to ratchet up hostilities be tween Washington and Beijing. Trump has already imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. And China has retaliated in kind, hitting American soybeans, among other goods, in a shot at the president’s supporters in the U.S. farm belt. Beijing has warned that it would hit an additional $60 billion in American products if Trump ordered more tariffs.

Trump on Monday threatened to raise the stakes again if Beijing should retaliate, adding a further $267 billion in Chinese imports to the target list. That would raise the total to $517 billion — covering nearly everything China sells the United States.

After taking in public comments, the administration said Monday that it had with drawn several items from an earlier list of $200 billion in Chinese imports, including childsafety products like bicycle helmets. And in a victory for Apple Inc. and its American customers, the administration removed smart watches and some other consumer electronics products from the list of goods imported from China.

At the same time, the administration said it is still open to negotiations with China.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative charged in a March report that China is using predatory tactics to obtain foreign technology, including hacking U.S. companies to steal their trade secrets and forcing them to turn over their knowhow in exchange for access to the Chinese market.