Wall Street Journal: “The volley-for-volley trade war between China and the U.S. is accelerating at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping can ill afford to make concessions, raising the likelihood of a protracted struggle between the world’s two biggest economies.”

“Mr. Xi is ordering a celebratory run-up to the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic in October, an event that Communist Party watchers and media say will showcase him as a strong leader of a powerful nation. With his government struggling to rejuvenate a sluggish economy and quell antigovernment protests in Hong Kong, Mr. Xi has little leeway to take steps that would undercut his strongman image.”

Los Angeles Times: “The potential loser in this international game of chicken is the U.S. economy. Both long term and short term, the White House is playing with fire — and it could end up burning Trump’s reelection bid.”

“China confirmed reports that it was pulling out of U.S. agriculture as a weapon in the ongoing trade war,” CNBC reports.

“A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Chinese companies have stopped purchasing U.S. agricultural products in response to President Trump’s new 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods.”

President Trump said he will impose new tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese imports starting next month, ending brief ceasefire in trade war, the Washington Post reports.

“The 10 percent import penalty will start September 1, a cost that would mean almost all goods sent to the United States from China would face tariffs. The tariffs could push the cost of many consumer products higher in the second half of the year.”

“Plodding progress in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China this week is partly the result of a new tactic from Beijing, which increasingly thinks waiting may produce a more favorable agreement,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“U.S. and Chinese negotiators held four hours of talks Wednesday, after a dinner the night before, and then wrapped up their first face-to-face meeting since negotiations foundered more than two months ago. Neither side announced any breakthroughs; China described the talks as constructive and said the next round would be held in the U.S. in September.”

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told CNBC that it was clear it was the United States that continued to “flip flop.”

Josh Rogin: “The Chinese government claims a foreign policy of noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs, but there’s a growing mountain of evidence that’s just not true. In fact, the Chinese Communist Party has been rapidly expanding its interference in developing countries around the world. Its efforts are aimed at undermining their democratic institutions, creating economic dependence and stifling any criticism of Beijing.”

“In the United States, Chinese influence operations combined with Chinese government-sponsored economic aggression are causing increasing alarm.”

“Backing down after days of huge street protests, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said on Saturday that she would indefinitely suspend a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China,” the New York Times reports.

“It was a remarkable reversal for Mrs. Lam, the leader installed by Beijing in 2017, who had vowed to ensure the bill’s approval and tried to get it passed on an unusually short timetable, even as hundreds of thousands demonstrated against it this past week.”

“But she made it clear that the bill was being delayed, not withdrawn outright, as protesters have demanded.”

President Trump told CNBC that he believes China will make a deal with the U.S. “because they’re going to have to.”

Trump defended his threats to slap tariffs on Mexico and China, which he said are putting the U.S. “at a tremendous competitive advantage.”

He added: “Right now, China is getting absolutely decimated by companies that are leaving China, going to other countries, including our own, because they don’t want to pay the tariffs.”

Reuters: “The United States began collecting higher, 25% tariffs on many Chinese goods arriving in U.S. seaports on Saturday morning in an intensification of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies and drawing retaliation from Beijing.”

“China is sending signals that it’s in no hurry to resume trade negotiations with the U.S. Trade talks between the two nations abruptly broke off last Friday after the U.S. raised tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports,” CBS News reports.

“This week, China retaliated by imposing tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods, and the White House banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei on national security grounds.”

“Amid a deepening trade war with China, President Trump declared a ‘national emergency’ to protect U.S. communications networks in a move that gives the federal government broad powers to bar American companies from doing business with certain foreign suppliers — including the Chinese firm Huawei,” the Washington Post reports.

New York Times: “Pentagon and American intelligence officials have warned that Chinese firms will be able to control the networks and have expressed concerns not only that secure messages could be intercepted or secretly diverted to China, but that the Chinese authorities could order Huawei to shut down the networks during any conflict.”

In a major escalation of the U.S.-China trade fight, President Trump “is preparing to slap tariffs on remaining Chinese imports, which could add levies on roughly $300 billion in additional goods,” the Washington Post reports.

“If approved, American consumers would probably see higher prices on everyday products including cellphones and televisions.”

South China Morning Post: “If China was unwilling to play ball on Trump’s terms, Beijing, analysts said, not only could retaliate by imposing countervailing tariffs of its own, but it also has a range of financial arsenal power at its disposal to punish the US.”

“For starters, China could fire back by dumping its vast holdings of US government debt. Flooding the market with treasuries would push down US bond prices and cause the yields to spike. That would make it more costly for US companies and consumers to borrow, in turn depressing America’s economic growth.”

“President Trump escalated his trade war with China on Friday morning, raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and taking steps to tax nearly all of China’s imports as punishment for what he said was Beijing’s attempt to ‘renegotiate’ a trade deal,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Trump’s decision to proceed with the tariff increase came after a pivotal round of trade talks in Washington on Thursday night failed to produce an agreement to forestall the higher levies. The White House said talks would resume again on Friday but it remains uncertain whether the two sides can bridge the differences that have arisen over the past week. … In a statement on Friday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that the government ‘deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures.’ It didn’t specify what those countermeasures might be.”

“President Trump, emboldened by ongoing strength in the American economy and angered by China’s attempts to renege on previous commitments, is prepared to prolong his monthslong trade war rather than settle for a weak agreement,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on Friday morning followed a visit last week by his top advisers to Beijing, in which the Chinese ‘retreated’ on parts of the deal.”

The Washington Post says “prospects for a deal later this week as the administration had hoped as recently as last week appear to be fading.”

“Chinese spies are increasingly recruiting U.S. intelligence officers as part of a widening, sustained campaign to shake loose government secrets,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials have escalated their warnings characterizing Chinese espionage as the single most significant long-term strategic threat, encompassing both spycraft intended to steal government secrets and the sustained heist of intellectual property and research from the corporate and academic worlds.”