China: Trade deals in jeopardy if US tariffs are implemented

China said Sunday that any trade deals currently being discussed with the U.S. will not go into effect if the Trump administration implements proposed tariffs on Chinese goods, according to multiple media reports.

The warning came after the White House said it is moving forward with a plan to implement steep tariffs on Chinese technology, and as officials from both countries hold high-level trade talks.

“If the United States introduces trade sanctions including a tariff increase, all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will not take effect,” the Chinese government said in a statement to Xinhua state news agency Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

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“The achievements reached by China and the United States should be based on the premise that the two sides should meet each other halfway and not fight a trade war,” the statement read.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China’s top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, led a meeting between officials from both countries on Sunday about the current trade deficit.

No formal trade deals came out of that meeting, but China agreed last month to “significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services,” according to a White House statement.

However, the Trump administration’s announcement late Tuesday that it would impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese technology by the end of this month cast doubt on trade talks between the two countries, the AP noted.

The White House said that Trump planned to add the tariffs to combat Chinese intellectual property theft, including tariffs on exports believed to contain stolen American intellectual property.

“The United States will continue efforts to protect domestic technology and intellectual property, stop noneconomic transfers of industrially significant technology and intellectual property to China, and enhance access to the Chinese market,” the White House statement read.