Trump: It’s basically a done deal

US-China trade deal chugging along as peace talks extended

washinGton:

US President Donald Trump said a trade summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was likely next month, and hailed two days of “very good talks” by negotiators.

The negotiations were extended until today as officials race to reach a deal ahead of a deadline next week when US duty rates are due to rise sharply.

But Trump again said he was considering pushing back the deadline for raising tariffs on more than US$200bil (RM815bil) in Chinese exports.

“We expect to have a meeting sometime in a not too distant future,” he said of the meeting with Xi. “Probably fairly soon in the month of March.”

Xi also sounded a positive note in a letter delivered to Trump by China’s lead negotiator Liu He.

The Chinese president expressed hope that the talks maintain “a mutually respectful, cooperative and win-win attitude” and lead to a “mutually beneficial” agreement.

“I am ready to maintain close contact with the President through various means,” state-run China Central Television quoted Xi’s letter saying.

Details remained scant about any concrete progress in the sevenmonth-old trade war, which has rattled global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy.

“I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made,” Trump said at the White House on a second day of trade negotiations with Chinese officials.

“If we are doing well, I could see extending that” deadline for the end of the three month tariff truce.

And Trump said an agreement on currency manipulation will be included in the trade pact. Officials from Beijing also expressed optimism about a positive outcome.

“From China, we believe that it is very likely that it will happen,” said Liu yesterday.

Global stock markets were higher on expectations the two sides would avoid further deterioration in their trade relations.

Wall Street rose to a banner finish, posting its longest streak of weekly gains in nearly 24 years.

Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology.

The harder parts covering issues like scaling back China’s ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, are another question.

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, again warned that the US-China trade tensions a “major risk” to world economic growth.

Since July, the countries have hit out with tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade.

The IMF has cut its forecast for global growth this year due to the combined impact of the trade war and said that While the tariffs alone are having “minimal” effect on global trade, they are damaging business confidence and weighing on stock markets.