“This is a criminal justice matter," said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Trade Lighthizer: Huawei case 'totally separate' from U.S.-China talks

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Sunday that U.S.-China negotiations should not be impacted by the controversial arrest of a top executive from Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

“This is a criminal justice matter. It is totally separate from anything I work on or anything that trade policy people in the administration work on,” Lighthizer said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”


Lighthizer’s comments come as China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad on Sunday in protest over the arrest of Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei. Le urged the United States to drop the arrest warrant and cautioned that China “will respond further” depending on the U.S. response.

Markets took a hit on Thursday following the news that the executive was detained in Vancouver and would be extradited to the U.S. She stands accused of violating American trade sanctions against Iran.

The arrest cast doubt over whether the U.S. and China would be able to make progress toward reaching an agreement. Both sides agreed to a 90-day temporary truce last week while they work through the trade dispute, which has threatened both economies for the past eight months.

Top advisers in President Donald Trump’s circle, including White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, have also sought to downplay the negative impact the high-profile arrest could have on the negotiations.

However, Lighthizer acknowledged that he “can understand from the Chinese perspective how they would see it that way.”

Lighthizer, Trump’s top trade negotiator, outlined that the Trump administration expects China to agree to structural changes that will protect U.S. technology and obtain additional market access for American businesses.

“If that can be done, the president wants us to do it. If not, we’ll have tariffs,” he said.

