Trump confirms latest China tariffs set for Sunday are on

Trump also said that US economic pressure on China was responsible for preventing the authorities from carrying out a harsher crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Trump earlier this month had called for 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion in goods to take effect from September 1 and December 15.

Then Beijing retaliated by targeting $75 billion in US exports and Trump announced that the new tariffs would instead hit 15 percent.