There are no preconditions set ahead of any trade talks with China, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend.
There were no specific agreements made ahead of the two leaders’ talks, Kudlow told Fox News in an interview.
Kudlow added that the White House may move forward with additional tariffs.
Asked to clarify a prior comment from President Donald Trump on U.S.-China trade deliberations,the president “is implying that he’s perfectly happy where we are and where he is in these so-called negotiations and talks," Kudlow told Fox News.
“And, if need be, we may move ahead – we may move ahead on additional tariffs,” he added.
U.S. stocks pared gains after Kudlow said the U.S. may move ahead on additional China tariffs.
“I don’t know where those stories came from. It’s too bad: I hate to say it, but it is fake news. Look, let’s see what happens, just for the heck of it. Without speculating or forecasting,” Kudlow said from the White House.
“The president says we’re in a good spot,” he continued. “He also says he’s happy to talk to President Xi, to have a good relationship and if something good comes out of those talks or if China were to offer us a good deal in the future, we might be willing to change some of our views.”
Meanwhile, a senior Trump administration official said on Thursday.that Trump's decision on whether to impose a new round of tariffs on Chinese goods is contingent on the outcome of his meeting this weekend.
The official told Reuters that it also was unlikely that the United States would agree to lift restrictions on sales of U.S. products to Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies.
China's commerce ministry said earlier on Thursday that the United States should immediately lift sanctions on Huawei, days before Trump and Xi are due to meet on Saturday at a G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
China opposes U.S. abuse of export controls and urges the United States to return to a track of cooperation, said the spokesman, Gao Feng.
Trump said on Wednesday a trade deal with Xi was possible this weekend, but he was prepared to impose tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports if disagreement persisted.
Trump has suggested that Huawei could be part of a deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Xi planned to present Trump with terms for ending the trade dispute, including removing a ban on the sale of U.S. technology to Huawei, citing Chinese officials with knowledge of the plan.
The report also said China wants the United States to lift all punitive tariffs and abandon efforts to get China to promise to buy even more U.S. goods than it previously agreed to do - a reiteration of long-standing demands.
The United States has put Huawei, the world's largest maker of telecoms equipment and its second biggest maker of smartphones, on an export blacklist, citing national security issues. The listing bars U.S. suppliers from selling to it without special approval.
Huawei has denied its products pose a security threat.
Material from Bloomberg and Reuters has been used in this report.
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