Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 9/10/18

President Donald Trump is threatening China with yet another round of tariffs on an additional $267 billion in Chinese goods — even as he prepares to decide on whether to slap duties on a separate $200 billion in imports any day now.

That escalated quickly: "The $200 billion we're talking about could take place very soon," Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One. A public comment period for those tariffs ended last week, meaning the White House is now free to impose them at any point.

"I hate to say that, but behind that, there's another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want," the president added. "That totally changes the equation."

If the administration follows through on all the tariffs Trump has now threatened, virtually all Chinese imports to the U.S. would be subject to duties. Beijing has already retaliated with its own tariffs, targeting U.S. agricultural producers in particular, and has another response at the ready if Trump pulls the trigger on the duties targeting $200 billion in Chinese goods.

Better luck elsewhere? Beyond the tit-for-tat with China, trade talks with U.S. allies continue on several fronts this week. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer visits Brussels today to meet with European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to continue efforts to lay groundwork for talks about a potential transatlantic trade pact.

It's the first meeting of top officials since Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker struck a short-term truce in July to hold off on additional tariffs and establish a framework for working towards a broader deal.

Ag alert: A push by the U.S. to include agriculture in any negotiation — the Europeans have said ag provisions won't be in the mix — is one of the main sticking points. EU officials expect ag to make for a challenging meeting, our friends at POLITICO Europe tell us.

At an EU trade attachés meeting on Friday, France demanded there should be no regulatory cooperation in the agricultural sector, which it fears could be used as a backdoor to open up ag markets via U.S.-EU trade talks. Paris also received backing from the Netherlands in urging the European Commission not to link the planned renegotiation of a hormone-free beef quota to the broader trade talks, one person at the meeting told our European colleagues.

Then it's back to NAFTA. Lighthizer's one-day trip to Belgium serves as a quick break from negotiations to potentially add Canada to the new NAFTA framework the U.S. and Mexico hammered out. He'll be back to Washington on Tuesday for a few days, leaving a window for the talks to continue before the G-20 trade ministers meeting in Argentina on Friday. There are no high-level NAFTA meetings scheduled at this point, but it's also not clear whether Lighthizer will attend the G-20 confab or send someone in his place.

The U.S.-Canada talks ended Friday without a breakthrough, as negotiators continue to be at odds over the dispute settlement process housed in Chapter 19 and the Trump administration's demand that Canada open its dairy markets to U.S. exports, as Pro Trade's Sabrina Rodriguez reported on Friday.

Drawing a line: Perdue, during the C-SPAN interview, said Lighthizer has been "very clear" that Canada's Class 7 dairy pricing system must be removed as part of any NAFTA deal. "I think it will be gone," Perdue said.