“I think the bill passed with a pretty significant majority, so I’m sure that’s something the president is taking into consideration,” O’Brien said.
Asked what would be the reaction of the United States if China cracked down hard on the protests, O’Brien said on Saturday: “I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. We’ve already seen too much violence in Hong Kong.”
“The real question is what is the world prepared to do about China if there is that sort of a crackdown? The United States will do its part,” he said.
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had said in October that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators were working on nailing down a “phase one” trade deal text for their presidents to sign in November.
But the deal’s completion could slide into next year, trade experts and people close to the White House said this week, as Beijing presses for more extensive tariff rollbacks, and Washington counters with heightened demands of its own.
