As Chinese Vice Premier Liu He leads a delegation in the US for the second round of talks, public hearings over proposed tariffs on approximately 50 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods are also underway in Washington. CGTN's Jim Spellman tells us how the trade tensions will affect US consumers if the tariffs are imposed and Chinese countermeasures follow.

US consumers could be the ones picking up the tab if US tariffs and Chinese countermeasures go into place. "This is like a sales tax at Wal-Mart."

Dan Ikeson of the CATO Institute says a trade war will mean higher prices in US stores. Even products not facing tariffs- could get more expensive as the cost of raw materials and manufacturing equipment go up.

DAN IKESON CATO INSTITUTE "Some of this is hidden. When tariffs are placed on intermediary goods it gets baked into the cost of goods and passed on to consumers unknowingly."

So even if the tomatoes inside these cans aren't facing tariffs the steel in the cans is:

DAN VINCENT PACIFIC COAST PRODUCERS "Cans are a significant component of our costs. Ultimately, the customer, the consumer will see some of this impact."

Other products like televisions will face direct tariffs. A study funded by US retailers and technology companies finds US tariffs would hike prices on Chinese-made televisions by around 23%. US consumers would cut back on TV purchases by 7.8% and pay 711 million dollars more on televisions they purchase in the years after tariffs go into effect.

Laura Baughman is co-author of the study.

LAURA BAUGHMAN TRADE PARTNERSHIP WORLDWIDE "We expect consumers will see higher prices in TVs or changes in the types of TVs available for purchase. The TVs that are imported from China are lower unit value TVs. They are the kind of TVs retailers sell at back Friday promotions to get people into the stores. There aren't really many places retailers can shift sources like Japan or even Mexico because the kind of TVs made there are very different than the kind of televisions made in China."

JIM SPELLMAN WASHINGTON Meaning US consumers would see higher prices and fewer choices for televisions and other products unless leaders change the channel and avoid a trade war. JIM SPELLMAN, CGTN, WASHINGTON.