U.S. in 'quiet period' with China over trade talks: White House's Navarro

[July 12, 2019]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is in a "quiet period" with China over trade negotiations, White House adviser Peter Navarro said in an interview on CNBC on Friday, adding that in-person talks would start soon in China.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro gives a television interview on the driveway leading to the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S. December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing "in the very near future," Navarro said. Overall, Lighthizer will take the lead on negotiations along with Republican U.S. President Donald Trump, he added.

"We are, in my judgment, in a quiet period ... toward negotiations," Navarro told the television network, noting that U.S. and Chinese negotiators spoke recently by phone.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month agreed to another truce in the year-long trade spat between the world's two largest economies. That agreement, after their meeting in Osaka, Japan, kickstarted stalled negotiations, but no deadline has been set for the process to conclude.

Asked when he thought a deal would be signed, Navarro declined to comment but said any announcements would come from Lighthizer or Trump.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.