U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is weighing whether to sign an executive order to expand inspections on shipments delivered from China as part of a crackdown on illegal imports, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
"Options are being evaluated through the inter-agency process to address a significant problem that steals our intellectual property, harms our manufacturers and workers, and kills Americans with deadly drugs," the FT reported Peter Navarro, director of trade and manufacturing policy at the White House, as saying. The U.S. receives about 1 million Chinese parcels per day and a "disturbingly high per cent" contain illegal materials, he added.
The report comes as the U.S. and China prepare to hold the next round of top-level trade talks in Washington. A separate report from Bloomberg News said the U.S. is considering reviving a currency agreement with China as part of an interim trade deal that could avert potential tariff increases next week.
