Washington/Beijing: US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was in no hurry to sign a trade deal with China as Washington imposed a new set of tariffs on Chinese goods and negotiators entered a second day of last-ditch talks to try to salvage an agreement.
The United States early on Friday increased its tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25 per cent from 10 per cent, rattling financial markets already worried the 10-month trade war between the world's two largest economies could spiral out of control.
The move, which is expected to lead China to retaliate, went into effect just hours after USTR Robert Lighthizer, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He ended a first day of talks in Washington without a deal.
They resumed negotiations on Friday morning.
In a series of morning tweets, Trump defended the tariff hike and said he was in “absolutely no rush” to finalise a deal, adding that the US economy would gain more from the levies than any agreement.
