Trump says US and China 'very close' to trade deal
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington and Beijing were “very close” to reaching a trade deal, days before more retaliatory tariffs are due to go into effect.
“Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China,” Trump posted on Twitter. “They want it, and so do we.”
Officials in Beijing and Washington also said the two countries are in close communication on trade.
The optimistic comment came as Trump was due to meet his trade advisers to decide whether to delay tariffs on $156 billion of Chinese imports scheduled to hit a vast swath of consumer goods on December 1.
US and Chinese officials have repeatedly offered mixed messages about the direction of the trade talks.
For more than two months, US and Chinese negotiators have been attempting to strike a limited truce in their trade conflict, with a deal mainly involving large-scale Chinese purchases of US farm goods and some additional measures on currency and intellectual property.
Completion of a phase one deal between the world’s two biggest economies had been initially expected in November.
Trade negotiators from both sides have failed to break a deadlock over core issues of concern, with rising bilateral tensions over geopolitical issues such as the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
There is broad support in Congress for Trump's push to punish China for years of alleged economic espionage, cyber attacks, forced technology transfer and dumping of low-priced goods made with massive government subsidies.
Washington imposed 15 percent tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese goods on September 1, on top of the additional 25 percent tariffs levied last year on $250 billion list of industrial and consumer goods. A new round of US tariffs is set to kick in on December 15, covering about $156 billion of Chinese imports.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has warned the US-China trade war could lead to a global military conflict if the two countries fail to resolve their commercial dispute.
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