China opposes U.S. abuse of export control, urges cooperation

BEIJING (Reuters) - China opposes U.S. abuse of export controls and urges the United States to return to a track of cooperation, a commerce ministry spokesman said on Thursday, days before the two countries’ leaders are set to meet for talks on trade issues.

The United States must immediately cancel sanctions on Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei, said Gao Feng, the spokesman.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping was possible this weekend when the two meet at a summit of leaders of Group of nations (G20) in Japan, but he was prepared to impose tariffs on virtually all remaining Chinese imports if disagreement persisted.

Trump has suggested that Huawei could be part of a deal.

The United States has put Huawei on an export blacklist, citing national security issues, barring U.S. suppliers from selling to the world’s largest maker of telecoms equipment and its No.2 maker of smartphones, without special approval.

Huawei has denied its products pose a security threat.

China will consider putting foreign firms on a list designating them as “unreliable” if they adopt discriminatory measures against Chinese entities, hurt its industries and threaten its national security, Gao said.

Details of the list will be released soon, he added.

On May 31, the commerce ministry said it was working on an “unreliable entities list” after Washington slapped additional tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods and added Huawei to the U.S.’s own export blacklist.

Trump is set to hold much-anticipated trade talks with Xi Jinping in Osaka on Saturday.

Asked about a news report of truce in the trade war with the United States, Gao said China welcomed actions that helped reduce tension.

On Thursday, the South China Morning Post said the United States and China had agreed to a tentative truce in their trade dispute, citing sources.