Mubasher: US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sees that an additional list of tariffs on Chinese imports would be levied in mid-December, if a trade deal with China was not inked by then, according to CNBC.

“I have every expectation - if there’s not a deal, those tariffs would go in place - but I expect we’ll have a deal,” Mnuchin told the media outlet said, referring to the tariff hike scheduled for 15 December.

Nevertheless, the White House would postpone deadline to impose more tariffs on Chinese imports, he noted.

Until more meetings with Chinese officials, Mnuchin expects that US President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping will be finish the deal during their anticipated summit in Chile in the upcoming weeks.

The Treasury secretary’s remarks came days after President Trump announced a “fundamental agreement in principle” for a “phase one deal,” following a round of high-level talks with China in Washington.

The US expected China to purchase $40 billion to $50 billion in agricultural goods, Mnuchin said, adding that Beijing will be scrapping some levies on imports of US products.

This was hailed by Trump on late Sunday.