FILE PHOTO: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow gives a thumbs up after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday the United States could lift some tariffs on China, while leaving others in place as part of an enforcement mechanism on a U.S.-China trade deal.

Kudlow made the comments to reporters on the sidelines of the U.S. Export-Import Bank annual conference as China and the United States negotiate a trade deal to ease eight months of tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

“We have to see what the track record is and we’re not going to give up our leverage. However, just to clarify, that doesn’t necessarily mean all the tariffs will be kept in place. Some of the tariffs would be kept there,” Kudlow said.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a fresh round of trade talks with Chinese officials. The negotiations will be followed by a round held in Washington next week.

The talks are the first time that trade negotiators have had face-to-face meetings since the two sides missed an initial goal to hold a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to finalize a deal at the end of March.

Meanwhile, China has made proposals on a range of issues that go further than it has before, including on forced technology transfer, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.