Trump says ‘I think we’ll make a deal with China’ on trade

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said that he will likely make a deal with China on trade, adding that a lot of progress had been made to resolve the two countries’ differences but warning that he still may impose more tariffs on Chinese goods.

“China very much wants to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in Washington just hours after his top economic adviser expressed caution about talk of a possible Us-china trade agreement.

“We’ve had a very good discussions with China, we’re getting much closer to doing something,” Trump said before departing the White House for a campaign event.

“I spoke with President Xi (Jinping). They very much want to make a deal,” Trump said.

“I think we’ll make a deal with China, and I think it will be a very fair deal for everybody, but it will be a good deal for the United States.”

Trump said he will discuss trade with Xi when the two meet for dinner on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit at the end of November in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

His administration has demanded that Beijing make sweeping changes to its policies on intellectual property protections, technology transfers, industrial subsidies and domestic market access, along with steps to reduce a $375 billion US goods trade deficit with China.

Trump said a deal with China would also be good for Beijing.