(Bloomberg) -- China offered to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. by “at least $200 billion” in talks to head off a possible trade war, the director of the White House National Economic Council said.
“The number’s a good number,” Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, told reporters at the White House on Friday. “I think just as important, they have to lower their tariff rates, they have to lower their non-tariff barriers. We have to have a verifiable process whereby the technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property stops.”
Earlier on Friday a Chinese foreign ministry official and posts on Chinese state social media accounts disputed reports that Chinese officials had offered the Trump administration a $200 billion reduction in its trade surplus through increased imports of American goods. The offer came during talks in Washington this week led by China’s Vice Premier Liu He.
Kudlow confirmed the trade surplus offer but declined to detail it. “They’re showing us some substance, and that’s a sign of respect. It’s a constructive approach,” he said.
“China’s come to trade; they are meeting many of our demands,” he said. “There’s no deal yet to be sure -- it’s probably going to take awhile. It’s a process. But they’re coming to play. I believe they want to make a deal.”
