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(This version of the August 16 story corrects date of talks reported by the Wall Street Journal to Aug 22 and 23, instead of Aug 21 and 22, in paragraph 4)
By Michael Martina and David Lawder
BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China and the United States will hold lower-level trade talks this month, the two governments said on Thursday, offering hope that they might resolve an escalating tariff war that threatens to engulf all trade between the world's two largest economies. .
Still, White House Economic adviser Larry Kudlow warned Beijing not to underestimate President Donald Trump's resolve in pushing for changes in China's economic policies.
A Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen will meet U.S. representatives led by Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the talks in Washington would take place on Aug. 22 and 23, just as new U.S. tariffs on $16 billion of Chinese goods take effect, along with retaliatory tariffs from Beijing on an equal amount of U.S. goods.
While the engagement was seen by analysts and business officials as positive, they cautioned that the talks were unlikely to lead to a breakthrough, given they involve lower-level officials, led on the U.S. side by the Treasury Department, not the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
There also remains a wide gap between the two sides over Washington's demands that Beijing improve market access and intellectual property protections for U.S. companies, cut industrial subsidies and slash a $375 billion trade deficit with China.
Kudlow, who heads the White House Economic Council, declined to comment on the specific goals of the Malpass-Wang talks.
"It is a good thing if they're sending a delegation here. We haven't had that in quite some time," Kudlow told CNBC television.
"The Chinese government in its totality must not underestimate President (Donald) Trump's toughness and willingness to continue this battle, to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers and quotas, to stop the theft of intellectual property and to stop the forced transfer of technology," Kudlow added.
News of the meeting boosted the Chinese yuan and helped cap losses in China's stock markets.[CNY/][.SS].
It had little effect on U.S. stocks, which retreated on reports Trump had disclosed classified information to Russia's foreign minister about operations in Syria, after the S&P 500 (.SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) hit record intraday highs.
The world's two largest economies have been locked in escalating rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, with $34 billion in goods targeted by each country and another $16 billion slated to go into effect on Aug. 23. Trump has threatened to impose duties on virtually all of the more than $500 billion of Chinese goods exported to the United States.