Visits: 11
Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, speaks during a White House briefing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to meet at the June G-20 summit in Japan, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow said in a Fox News interview on Sunday.
Kudlow said the chances of such as meeting “were pretty good,” but he said there are “no concrete, definite plans” for when U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet again.
Trade talks between U.S. and Chinese negotiators broke up on Friday without a trade agreement. The talks took place under the shadow of Trump’s decision to more than double the tariff rate to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
“The talks will continue,” Kudlow said. “I will say this: There is a G-20 meeting in Japan toward the end of June next month and the chances that President Trump and President Xi will get together at that meeting are pretty good.”
Trump called Friday’s negotiations “constructive” and said talks will continue while U.S. tariffs remain in place, though they could be lifted depending on how the situation progresses.
Kudlow said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he expects China to retaliate against the U.S. Beijing threatened to take “countermeasures” against the U.S. last week, but so far it has not done so.
The White House economic advisor said China had backtracked on its commitments, which precipitated Trump’s decision to increase tariffs. He pointed to intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers as sticking points.
“Things seemed to be taking too long, and we can’t accept any backtracking,” Kudlow said. “We don’t think the Chinese have come far enough, we will wait and see.”
On Saturday, Trump warned China to “act now” on trade or risk facing a “far worse” deal during a possible second term after the 2020 presidential election.