Trump seeks probe of China’s practices

He asked U.S. trade office to look into theft of technology.

Even as he seeks Beijing’s help on North Korea, President Donald Trump asked his trade office on Monday to consider investigating China for the alleged theft of American technology and intellectual property.

Trump, in the midst of a 17-day vacation, left his New Jersey golf club to return to the White House to sign an executive action on the probe. He suggested that more steps would be taken against China on trade issues.

In a phone call Friday, Trump praised Chinese Pres- ident Xi Jinping for back- ing the recent U.N. vote to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea, and the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. But Trump also told Xi about the move toward a possible inquiry into China’s trade practices, according to two U.S. officials familiar with that conversation.

China announced Monday it will cut off imports of North Korean coal, iron and lead ore and other goods in three weeks under U.N. sanctions imposed against Pyongyang.

In an editorial Monday, the China Daily, a mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said a trade probe, which could lead to punitive tariffs on Chinese exports, would “poison” U.S.-China relations.

Trump wants government officials to look at Chinese practices that force American companies to share their intellectual property in order to gain access to the world’s second-largest economy.