White House trade hawk Navarro excluded from US-China trade meet

President Donald Trump’s hawkish top trade adviser Peter Navarro is to be excluded from talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to reports from the South China Morning Post.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet for dinner on 1 December at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and will discuss how to move forward with the ongoing trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies.

Each leader is understood to be bringing six aides to the meeting and the absence of the outspoken Navarro is seen by some observers as a sign that the Trump administration will actively seek diplomatic progress.

Navarro made headlines recently for claiming that "globalist billionaires" are pressuring the White House to reach a trade deal as part of a Chinese government conspiracy, a pronouncement that White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow publicly disputed.

“As part of a Chinese government influence operation, globalist billionaires are putting the full court press on the White House in advance of the G20 in Argentina. The mission of these unregistered foreign agents – that’s what they are, unregistered agents – is to pressure this president into some kind of a deal,” said Navarro earlier this month.

With Navarro reportedly no longer in contention, possible attendees could include Kudlow, US National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US ambassador to China Terry Branstad.