Tariffs will ultimately harm US economy

That Vice-Premier Liu He talked with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the phone on Monday raises hope that China and the United States would resume the bilateral trade negotiations.

However, the negotiations, if they resume, are not likely to be smooth. On June 18, Lighthizer threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if certain issues were not resolved to the US' satisfaction.

The US has been constantly pressuring China and has slapped 25 percent tariffs on about $250 billion of Chinese goods even though US President Donald Trump called President Xi Jinping on the phone recently and said that he would restart the trade negotiations on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, later this week.