The White House plans to announce a package of tariffs Thursday penalizing China for intellectual property theft, a senior White House official and a person briefed on the plan told CNBC.
The measures to be unveiled will not include restrictions on Chinese investment in the U.S. or student visas.
President Donald Trump will be briefed again in two weeks to consider more actions based on the effects of the first phase, said the sources, who declined to be named. Trump worries the measures could hit American universities too hard, according to the sources.
Both the timing of the announcement and scope of the tariffs are in flux. The president has pushed for tariffs on $60 billion in goods. But by law, the penalties must be limited to the amount of harm the U.S. trade representative finds the unfair trade practices have done to the U.S. economy.
On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the top U.S. trade official, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said Trump will make the final decision. However, he noted the administration would structure the tariffs to inflict maximum harm upon China and try to limit the effect on U.S. consumers.
It marks the latest Trump administration move to crack down on trade practices the president deems unfair. The White House recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
— CNBC's Lori Ann LaRocco contributed reporting to this article
