White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday he can’t guarantee that President Trump won’t allow the CFO of a Chinese technology company to be released as part of a broader trade negotiation with China.
“I can’t guarantee anything,” Kudlow said on “Fox News Sunday” when asked if releasing Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou might become part of a grand bargain with China.
“How this affects trade … I can’t sit here and be absolutely definitive,” he said.
Kudlow said, however, that part of the reason he’s uncertain is because law enforcement actions aren’t part of his portfolio at the White House.
“This is a DOJ-NSC law enforcement issue. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” he said. “I’m not an attorney. It’s outside my lane. So we will see.”
Meng was arrested in Canada at the request of the U.S. for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. China immediately demanded her release.
Kudlow said that for now, her arrest and the months-long trade battle with China appear to be in “different channels.” But he acknowledged the two issues could somehow become mingled.
“I might be wrong,” he said. “I can’t predict the future on this thing, but they’re different channels, and I think they will be viewed that way for quite some time.”
U.S. equities markets fell sharply last week as it became clear the U.S. and China aren’t saying exactly the same thing about the nature of a 90-day trade war cease-fire. China, for example, has yet to specify how much in U.S. farm products it will buy as part of the effort to cool tensions.
But Kudlow downplayed the markets and said the U.S. is on the road to making real progress with China.
Kudlow also rejected the idea that he and Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade official in the White House, are sending confusing messages to the markets on China. Last week, Kudlow suggested Trump might extend the trade truce with China beyond 90 days, but Navarro indicated that was not on the table.
“I don’t think there’s much daylight between Peter and I,” he said.
