The Latest: China calls new Trump tariff threat 'blackmail'
By Associated Press
Jun 18, 2018 10:01 PM CDT
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at an Economic Club of Detroit luncheon in Detroit, Monday, June 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)   (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on U.S.-China trade tensions (all times local):

10:40 p.m.

China's Commerce Ministry is criticizing President Donald Trump's latest threat of tariffs on $200 billion worth of its exports, calling it an "act of extreme pressure and blackmail."

Trump ordered the U.S. Trade Representative Monday to prepare a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation for its response to a previous round of punitive tariffs.

Tariffs on $50 billion in goods from each nation are set to go into effect next month, raising the specter of a trade war.

The ministry said early Tuesday that Trump's latest move "deviates from the consensus reached by both parties after many negotiations, and is a disappointment to the international community."

It adds, "If the U.S. becomes irrational and issues this list, China will have no choice but to adopt strong countermeasures of the same amount and quality."

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7:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump is directing the U.S. Trade Representative to prepare new tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, as the nations move closer to a potential trade war.

Trump says the new tariffs, at a 10 percent rate, are retaliation against China should it go through with its planned tariffs on $50 billion in U.S. exports. China's tariffs came in response to similar tariffs Trump put in place on Chinese goods in a bid to lower the trade imbalance.

Trump says, "These tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced."

Trump says if China responds to these new tariffs, then he will move to counter "by pursuing additional tariffs on another $200 billion of goods."

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1:30 p.m.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says China is engaging in "predatory economics 101" and an "unprecedented level of larceny" of intellectual property,

Pompeo made the remarks Monday at the Detroit Economic Club as global markets reacted to trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Both nations started putting trade tariffs in motion that are set to take effect July 6.

Pompeo says China's recent claims of "openness and globalization" are "a joke." He adds that China is a "predatory economic government" that is "long overdue in being tackled," matters that include intellectual property theft and Chinese steel and aluminum flooding the U.S. market.

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