Reuters President Donald Trump speaks Monday at the White House.President Donald Trump threatened to sharply escalate a trade conflict with China, asking his administration to identify $200 billion in imported goods from China to be penalized with tariffs. Trump’s move comes after Beijing announced it would retaliate in kind to planned U.S. tariffs on $50 billion in imports from China. The U.S. president’s latest plans, if carried out, would likely plunge the world’s two biggest economies into a trade war. “Unfortunately, China has determined that it will raise tariffs on $50 billion worth of United States exports,” Trump said in a statement Monday evening, directing U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer to identify $200 billion more in products for tariffs of 10%. Should China retaliate to those additional tariffs, Trump promised to escalate even further by placing tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods.via