U.S., Chinese officials held productive trade call -White House adviser

U.S. and Chinese deputy-level negotiators held a "very constructive" teleconference on Wednesday and the Trump administration is still planning for a round of in-person talks in September, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said. Kudlow also said on Thursday that trade talks under way this week between Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were yielding pretty good progress on agriculture and telecoms issues.

Kudlow, speaking to reporters at the White House, declined to offer a date for possible talks between Lighthizer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. "The deputies' call was quite constructive and this may lead to a meeting of the principals here in Washington, D.C.," Kudlow said, adding that the deputies had agreed to another conference call. He declined to comment on specifics of the discussion.

"They are working through some of the key issues. And then they will pass on a recommendation to the principals," he said.