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Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon attends a ceremony at the White House April 10, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Washington will release the results of an investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property theft before a Sino–U.S. summit in Beijing so both sides can reset bilateral trade with “a whole series of negotiations”, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told the South China Morning Post.
In Hong Kong for an investors forum, Bannon said on Tuesday that China and the United States had “a lot of issues over trade that need to be worked out” but conflict between them could be avoided.
“I believe we can avoid a trade war, which is detrimental to both countries. We have to somehow reach an agreement,” he said.
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Bannon said trade would be at the top of US President Donald Trump’s agenda when he met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in November.
He said a stable trade relationship could help the two countries manage their differences over “other potential conflict points such as North Korea and the South China Sea”.
The 63-year-old appeared less belligerent on Tuesday – just before arriving in Hong Kong he accused China of being at “economic war” with the US.
But he did charge China with using forced technology transfers to undermine US competitiveness.
“[Our trade relationship] is basically that we ship raw material to China and they send back high-value manufacturing goods to our market. That happens because they appropriate our technology,” he said.
