China trade talks continued last week but ended with very little progress and an increase in current tariffs. The U.S. and China were meeting last week to talk about the ongoing trade dispute between the two nations. Reports claim that very little was accomplished during the meetings however the indication is they didn’t go wrong. Some officials were surprised talks didn’t break down on Friday as the U.S. proceeded to increase import tariffs from 10 to 25 percent on over 6,000 Chinese goods valued at $200 billion.
President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted “Over the course of the past two days, the United States and China have held candid and constructive conversations on the status of the trade relationship between both countries…In the meantime, the United States has imposed Tariffs on China, which may or may not be removed depending on what happens with respect to future negotiations!”
China countered the move by increasing its tariffs on U.S. goods. Beijing announced it would be raising taxes to 25 percent on 5,140 imported U.S. products. Both raises do not start immediately, giving negotiators a few weeks to try and deescalate the situation.
A Reuters report identified a revision to the agreement terms as a significant stall in talks last week. The report stated that China was backpedaling on previous versions that would correct Chinese laws on a couple of vital issues.