Trump officials scramble to delay China tariffs -- fearing an economic disaster heading into 2020: report

President Donald Trump's trade war with China is becoming a political liability, hurting key industries and worrying economists about a looming recession.

On Wednesday, Moody’s Analytics estimated that Trump’s trade war has killed 300,000 U.S. jobs. According to an estimate by Yahoo Finance, Trump's tariffs cost the U.S. economy 6.8 billion in July. According to Politico, Trump's team is scrambling to contain the damage caused by the president's tariffs by pushing to delay the onset of the next ones.

"President Donald Trump's top advisers are rushing to find an escape hatch for a series of tariff increases in the coming months, worried about the potential for further economic damage," Politico writes. "Many of the president's top economic officials are trying to resurrect the terms they previously were negotiating with China, a deal officials said was "90 percent" done before a sudden impasse this summer, according to a person familiar with the discussions."

Senior officials are reportedly trying to delay the onset of the next set of tariffs. The tariffs are scheduled to go into effect in October. But there's talk of pushing them back until December, reports Politico. Trump has not approved the delay.

"The discussions about some kind of agreement come as the White House holds wide-ranging internal debates about ways to boost economic growth heading into 2020 as data suggest a clear slowdown with the trade wars having an obvious impact, especially on manufacturing," Politico writes.

The president often boasts about his economic acumen. If his trade wars tank the economy before 2020, a bid based on the economy will be drastically undermined.