US trade chief to speak with Chinese counterpart as tariff rift widens

By Trevor Hunnicutt, Jarrett Renshaw and David Lawder

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's top trade chief, Jamieson Greer, plans to speak with his Chinese counterpart next week, the U.S. president said on Friday amid an escalating tariff war.

Talks between the world's biggest economies would occur just days before the long-threatened April 2 unveiling of fresh U.S. tariffs on every country that taxes U.S. imports, potentially including new steps against China.

Trump did not say what he hoped the next set of U.S.-China talks would achieve, or whether they might lead to a roll-back of levies on Chinese imports.

Trump has imposed 20% levies on all imports from China since taking office in January.

He reiterated that his goal was to end the shipment of Chinese chemicals used to synthesize illegal fentanyl through Mexico, a goal that may require more law enforcement cooperation between the nations.

He also said that he wants to narrow the U.S. trade deficit with its main economic rival.

The Republican president also said that he plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but did not say when.

China has not commented on the possibility of a Trump-Xi meeting. Beijing has rejected Trump's trade measures as counterproductive and unwarranted, and has imposed limited retaliatory duties of 10% on imports of American oil, liquefied natural gas and farm equipment. It has also touted its efforts on counter-narcotics.

"Yes," Trump said in response to a reporter's question in the White House's Oval Office about whether a potential meeting involving his trade chief was in the works.

"I'll be speaking to President Xi. I have a great relationship with him. We're gonna have a very good relationship, but we have a trillion-dollar deficit," Trump said.

It was not immediately clear which Chinese official would join the talks with Greer.

Greer's office has proposed port fees of up to $1.5 million every time a Chinese ship docks in the U.S. as part of a trade probe into China's domination of global shipbuilding and maritime logistics services.

The Chinese embassy in Washington and the United States Trade Representative's office did not respond to a request for comment.