Navarro: Huawei Exec Arrest, China Trade Not Tied

There is no connection between the United States trade negotiations with China and the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for telecommunications giant Huawei, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Friday.

"They are two separate events," Navarro told CNN's Jim Sciutto. "The problem we have is not the events. It is the bad actions of Huawei. A very large company, founded by someone from the Chinese military. It is frightening that any one of those cell phones can have a listening device for the Chinese government."

Last weekend, at about the same time President Donald Trump was announcing cooperation between the U.S. and China on trade negotiations, Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, was detained on a U.S. extradition request.

The timing was "unusual," said Navarro, but the actions by Canada's Justice Department were "legitimate."

"The point is, Huawei is a bad actor, let's look at what the indictment says," he said, noting that governments in the United States and several other countries do not use the company's phones as they are not secure.

Meanwhile, Navarro said if the United States and China do not reach a trade agreement, the US may look at raising tariffs.

Navarro, who was involved in recent trade talks between Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others, said nobody spoke at the meeting except for Trump and President Xi, who did most of the talking.

"He came into that room and talked for about 45 minutes, offering a very detailed offer for a deal," said Navarro. "Clearly the Chinese side motivated because of President Trump's strong stance on their practices. They want a deal. And, so, when people say that, oh, the vagueness or whatever. Inside that room, that president on the Chinese side went over 142 items based on our demands."

Meanwhile, China will have to restructure its economy if it is to be a good citizen to the rest of the world, as Trump is the "first president to stand up" to them, said Navarro.

• Kudlow: Huawei Issue Won't Harm Trade Talks With China
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