Trump to propose 25-percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese imports

The tariff battle between the U.S. and China could be about to heat up again.

The Trump administration plans to propose slapping a 25-percent tariff on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods.

This comes after initially setting them at 10 percent, in a bid to pressure Beijing into making trade concessions, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters.

President Trump's administration said on July 10 it would seek to impose the 10-percent tariffs on thousands of Chinese imports.

While the tariffs would not be imposed until after a period of public comment, raising the proposed level to 25 percent could escalate the trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies.

The source said the Trump administration could announce the tougher proposal as early as Wednesday.

There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese government.

In July it accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back.

Concerns have been that a trade war between Washington and Beijing could hit global growth.

Stock markets edged up globally on Tuesday on a report that the United States and China were seeking to resume talks to defuse the situation.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's Office declined to comment to Reuters on the proposed tariff rate increase or on whether changing them would alter the deadlines laid out for comment period before implementation.

In early July, the U.S. government imposed 25-percent tariffs on an initial $34 billion of Chinese imports.

Beijing retaliated with matching tariffs on the same amount of U.S. exports to China.