The ongoing trade talks with China are unsatisfactory, the White House said on Sunday, alleging that China is not playing by the rules.
A trade conflict between Washington and Beijing has escalated as the countries slap mounting tariffs on imports. The Trump administration imposed duties on $200 billion worth of goods from China, prompting Beijing to put tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods.
“Those talks have been unsatisfactory. You can’t steal America’s intellectual property, you can’t force technology transfers,” the White House Chief Economic Advisor, Larry Kudlow, told Fox News in an interview when asked if this is a new cold war between US and China.
“Just recently, China issued a regulation where their police can hack into American companies in China in order to steal secrets? That is not good. They have tariffs and nontariff barriers,” he said.
“We want reciprocity. We want rules by the game to be observed. And China has not,” Kudlow said.
Kudlow acknowledged that the relationship between the US and China has not been positive lately.
“We have to have reciprocity in all of these areas — trade, security, military issues. That’s what’s at stake here. We have to defend American interests as the president has said many, many times, he asserted.
Appearing on the same Sunday talk show, the Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai refuted the allegations.
“I have to say, all these accusations are groundless. One of the fundamental principals in China’s foreign policy is non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. And we have been consistent in this position. We have a very good track record, the Chinese envoy told agencies.
