The Latest on trade tensions between the U.S. and China and their wider impact, especially on technology giant Huawei (all times local):
5:55 p.m.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman has refrained from saying if President Xi Jinping intends to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump during a summit in Osaka later this month.
Geng Shuang said Tuesday when asked by reporters about a possible meeting that the Chinese side would release information when it is available. He reiterated Beijing’s stance that it does not want a trade war but is not afraid to fight one.
Trump earlier said that he expects to meet with Xi in Osaka but step up tariffs on Chinese goods if they don’t meet.
Geng said that if the U.S. was ready to hold “equal consultations” the door was wide open. He added, “But if it insists on escalating trade frictions, we will respond to it with resolution and perseverance.”
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1:50 p.m.
Chinese tech giant Huawei says it would have become the world’s number one smartphone marker by year’s end if it were not for “unexpected” circumstances.
Huawei’s chief strategist, Shao Yang, said Tuesday the company now has to “wait a little bit longer to achieve that.”
He did not directly refer to President Donald Trump or trade .
Washington has put Huawei on a blacklist that effectively bars U.S. firms from selling to the company without government approval.
Huawei, the world’s top network equipment provider and second-largest smartphone maker, has become embroiled in the trade dispute between China and the U.S. U.S. officials have accused Chinese technology companies, including Huawei, of stealing trade secrets and threatening international cybersecurity.
Huawei denies that it would share users’ secrets with China’s ruling Communist Party.