US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says US charges against telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies are a separate issue from trade talks with China, where he expects to see significant progress this week.
"Those are separate issues, and that's a separate dialogue," Mnuchin said in an interview with Fox Business Network on Tuesday.
"So those are not part of trade discussions. Forced technology issues are part of trade discussions, but any issues as it relates to violations of US law or US sanctions are going through a separate track."
China's Vice Premier Liu He is leading a delegation for high-level trade and economic talks in Washington this week, including a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
On Monday, the US announced criminal charges against Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou and the Chinese technology firm. But Mnuchin said he did not expect the issue to be part of the economic talks.
Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested in Canada in December and is fighting extradition to the US.
Mnuchin said the US security concerns raised by the Huawei case were separate from the conversation on trade and forced technology.
"There are two different issues. One is an issue of state subsidies" regarding Beijing's subsidies, he said. The other, he added, was a national security issue focused on US infrastructure and cybersecurity.
"These are separate issues and shouldn't be confused," Mnuchin said.
