Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/17/18

The Trump administration will hike tariffs on more than $200 billion in Chinese goods by March 2 if there's no trade resolution between Washington and Beijing, according to a notice due to be published today in the federal register.

The March 2 cutoff date , which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer described last week as a "hard deadline," is 90 days after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a temporary truce in Buenos Aires. Trump agreed to postpone the planned rise of those duties from 10 percent to 25 percent, but it was previously not clear when they would increase if the 90-day talks don't make major breakthroughs on longstanding disputes, Pro Trade's Adam Behsudi reports.

— Keeping score: It remains somewhat unclear what China is expected to do by March 2 to avoid the higher duties. The heart of the U.S.' complaints against Beijing's trade practices focus on deeper issues like Chinese technology transfers and intellectual property policies.

During a recent NPR interview , Lighthizer sidestepped direct requests to specify what the president wants to see from China. He said the administration is looking for structural changes to increase market access for American companies, protect intellectual property and end forced technology transfers, without getting into details.

— Early progress: China has agreed to buy more U.S. farm goods and is reportedly rewriting its controversial "Made in China 2025" policy, which Washington sees as an attempt to dominate advanced technologies at the expense of U.S. companies.

USDA announced Friday that China bought another 300,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans, following purchases of 1.3 million tonnes earlier last week, Pro Trade's Doug Palmer reports. That was the ninth-biggest daily sale in USDA's records.