The U.S. Trade Representative's office Monday began six days of public hearings on President Donald Trump's plans to impose tariffs on a wider array of Chinese imports, affecting an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
More than 1,300 written comments have been submitted to the trade office, with most businesses opposing the president's plan.
Unlike previous rounds of U.S. tariffs, which mainly targeted Chinese parts, including steel and electronic components, the latest proposals would affect many consumer products directly.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a written statement presented at the hearing Monday that the planned escalation "dramatically expands the harm to American consumers, workers, businesses and the economy."
The hearings come as Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts are expected to meet later this week in Washington to discuss the trade dispute.
The talks will be the first formal discussions on the matter since June and will be led by David Malpass, U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, and China's vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen. Previous rounds of talks have made little progress in resolving the trade dispute.
The United States has already imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products, while levies on a further $16 billion are set to take effect on Thursday. China has responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs against an equivalent amount of U.S. goods.
If approved, the latest proposed round of tariffs on Chinese imports is set to take effect in late September.
US Trade Office Holds Hearings on Plans for More Tariffs Against China
FILE - A woman works on packaging bicycle rim steels for export at a workshop of a company manufacturing sports equipments in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, June 4, 2018.