The Trump administration will seek additional financial aid for farmers stung by the U.S.-China trade war, a top White House official said yesterday, adding that President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China are likely to meet in Japan next month to continue negotiations, Politico reported. “I think we had an authorization of $12 billion,” Kudlow said, referring to the dollar amount the Trump administration has already pledged in aid to farmers. “We will do it again if we have to. … We will do that." On Friday, the U.S. and China wrapped up another round of trade talks with no resolution as to when tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods would be removed. “This is a risk we should and can take without damaging our economy in any appreciable way,” Kudlow said. Read more.
In related news, China plans to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, the finance ministry said today, after the U.S. escalated a trade war with a tariff hike on $200 billion of Chinese products, Reuters reported. China will impose tariffs on a total of 5,140 U.S. products from June 1, the ministry said in a statement today. Read more.