Washington/Beijing — Top Trump administration officials are asking China to cut tariffs on imported cars, allow foreign majority ownership of financial services firms and buy more US-made semiconductors in negotiations to avert tariffs on a host of Chinese goods and a trade war. A person familiar with the discussions said these were among the asks from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer in talks with Beijing. The Wall Street Journal first reported the demands from US officials, saying they came in a letter sent to Beijing last week. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro confirmed that President Donald Trump had asked Mnuchin and Lighthizer to try to resolve their trade differences. "We’re hopeful there that China will work with us to basically address some of these practices," Navarro told CNBC. US stocks surged on Monday on the news that the two sides were talking, after a massive rout last week when Trump announced plans to impose tar...
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