Trump strenuous on China before the G20 meeting

US President Donald Trump said he plans to increase current tariffs on Chinese products early in 2019.

Comments to the Wall Street Journal come as he is expected to meet Chinese Xi Jinping on the sidelines of this week's G20 summit.

Mr Trump also said that he would hit the rest of the Chinese imports with the United States with customs duties if the negotiations were not going well.

Customs duties on $ 200 billion worth of Chinese products are expected to increase from 10% to 25%.

Rates were first imposed in September.

Mr Trump said it was "very unlikely" that he accepts Beijing's request to delay the tariff hike, the paper said.

If the negotiations failed, Mr Trump said he would also pursue his plans to target new Chinese products subject to customs duties.

"If we do not agree, I will add $ 267 billion more," Trump said. The duty rate on the remaining amount would be either 10% or 25%, he said.

He added that Apple iPhones and laptops imported from China would "perhaps" also be subject to tariffs, the newspaper reported.

Mr. Trump has launched a trade war with China this year. The United States has imposed tariffs on about half of China's imports into the United States.

China has retaliated but its room for maneuver is reduced, the United States buying much more from China than it exports to that country.

Analysts say the failure to find common ground at a G20 meeting in Argentina this week could lead to a deterioration in the trade war that is already hurting industries and threatening to unbalance the global economy.