US-China trade negotiations need to reach a successful end by March 1 or new tariffs will be imposed, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says, clarifying there is a "hard deadline" after a week of seeming confusion among President Donald Trump and his advisers.
Global markets are jittery about a collision between the world's two largest economic powers over China's huge trade surplus with the US and claims China is stealing intellectual property and technology.
"As far as I am concerned it is a hard deadline. When I talk to the president of the United States he is not talking about going beyond March," Lighthizer said on Sunday on the CBS show Face the Nation, referring to Trump's recent decision to delay new tariffs while talks proceed.
"The way this is set up is that at the end of 90 days, these tariffs will be raised," said Lighthizer, who has been tapped to lead the talks and appeared to tamp down expectations that the negotiation period could be extended.
After a turbulent week in markets, investors "can be reassured that if there is a deal that can be made that will assure the protection of US technology ... and get additional market access ... the president wants us to do it," Lighthizer said.
"If not, we will have tariffs."
In Argentina last weekend, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a truce that delayed the planned January 1 US hike of tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on $US200 billion ($A278 billion) of Chinese goods while they negotiate a trade deal.
However, the arrest of a top executive at China's Huawei Technologies has roiled global markets amid fears that it could further inflame the China-US trade row.
In a series of appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows, Lighthizer, economic adviser Larry Kudlow, and trade adviser Peter Navarro insisted the trade talks with China would not be derailed by the arrest, which they deemed solely a law enforcement matter.
