US Denies Cancelling Beijing Trade Talks

A top White House aide flatly rejected media reports on Tuesday that Washington had canceled a trade meeting ahead of next week's high-level talks with Chinese officials.

The reports by the Financial Times and CNBC earlier sent US stocks sharply lower, reviving fears that efforts to resolve the US-China trade war could fail.

But National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC that such reports were false.

"With respect, the story is not true," Kudlow said.

"There was never a planned meeting that was canceled."

According to both media outlets, US officials had cited a lack of progress on some of the thorniest issues in the trade dispute – including allegedly forced technology transfers and structural reforms to China's economy – and cancelled plans for a face-to-face preparatory meeting this week.

Vice-Premier Liu He is due to travel to the United States next week as the two sides work to resolve their disagreements by March 1, when a 90-day truce is due to expire, allowing US import duties on Chinese goods to increase sharply. (AFP)

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