US and China speaking 'at all levels' ahead of G20 meet, says Kudlow
President Trump has initiated direct contact with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the leaders’ meeting at the G20 in Argentina at the end of the month, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Tuesday.
Kudlow said that communication was ongoing “at all levels” of the US and Chinese government as part of preparations for the summit and indicated that trade discussions would take place between the two nations, perhaps alleviating fears of an escalating trade war.
Speaking about his overall outlook on US trade talks with China, Europe and Japan, Kudlow said the Trump administration was “moving ahead on trade discussions” and that he thought current progress was “a pretty good story”.
The news comes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday resumed communications with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, with the two discussing a deal to ease trade tensions over the telephone.
Kudlow also took issue with comments made by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who said on Friday that any trade deal reached with Beijing would be on the President’s terms and not those of Wall Street and accused “globalist billionaires” of pressurising the administration.
Markets have responded positively to indications of a softening in the tension between the two rival nations, with US stocks rising quickly on Tuesday after heavy profit-taking on Monday.
Naeem Aslam, market analyst at ThinkMarkets, said: “The hopes are that both countries would be able to strike a deal and put the woes of trade war behind them. Concerns around trade war have created a meaningful impact on the global growth and a lot of steam has come out of the equity market mainly because of this.”