Donald Trump sends trade hawks to China as US considers further action against Beijing
Sources close to talks play down chances of swift breakthrough in talks as US President adds leading critics of Beijing to delegation visiting Chinese capital
Donald Trump has added some of the leading trade hawks in his administration to a delegation visiting China next week as sources close to the ongoing talks warned that the US was considering further action against Beijing.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro will join Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council head Larry Kudlow in the party that will meet Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping and vice-president Wang Qishan, on May 3 and 4, a source who is familiar with the situation said.
The possibility of Mnuchin visiting China was raised in February when Liu He, one of Xi’s top economic officials, visited the US, the source added. That visit ended without any tangible outcome.
The US President announced the trip on Tuesday, saying Mnuchin, Lighthizer and “a couple of other folks” would visit China.
“We’re having very substantive discussions on trade. I believe the trade will work out, but I also think the China has never treated us with more respect than they have over the last short period of time that I’m president,” Trump said.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm the visit but said on Wednesday that China welcomed the message that the US wanted discussions.
