The United States has reportedly proposed a fresh round of trade talks with China... amid threats of new tariffs.
This comes as the Trump administration's trade war with Beijing seems to be weighing on business investment in the U.S.
Ro Aram has more.
The U.S.-China trade spat has been going on for quite some time now, with tit-for-tat tariffs.
Previous attempts to reach a trade through talks deal have fallen through.
But the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that senior U.S. officials led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent an invitation to their Chinese counterparts, proposing a meeting in the next few weeks.
The report comes just days after President Trump threatened to slap additional duties on 200 billion dollars of Chinese imports "very soon."
A public comment period for that round of tariffs expired last Thursday.
The two countries have already applied tariffs to 50 billion dollars of each other's goods.
The treasury and commerce departments are yet to confirm the reports.
Meanwhile, the trade war seems to be weighing on business investment in the U.S.
The Federal Reserve's "Beige Book" survey of the economy found that, while businesses were generally optimistic about the near-term outlook, international trade tensions have prompted many American businesses to scale back or postpone planned investments.
The survey noted the effects of tariffs appeared to be modest, but they were pushing up input costs for some manufactured goods.
The Fed also attributed the fall in investments to a tightening labor shortage in half the country.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates at its next meeting in two weeks.
Ro Aram, Arirang News.
