WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday that no substantive progress has been made to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax hikes that will start to go into effect early next year if Washington does not act.

"Listen, I remain hopeful that productive conversations can be had in the days ahead. But the White House has to get serious," House of Representatives Speaker Boehner told reporters after a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the White House's main liaison to Congress.

Boehner characterized the discussion with Geithner as frank but said the treasury secretary did not provide a substantive plan for dealing with the fiscal cliff.

(Reporting By Dave Lawder and Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Vicki Allen)