WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. was close to a trade deal with China and that he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the end of the year if an agreement is struck.
“He asked for a meeting, and I’ll end up having a meeting before the end of the year most likely, if we make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’m not going to have a meeting,” Trump told CNBC in an interview referring to China’s Xi.
“We’re getting very close to a deal. We’re getting along with China very well,” Trump said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week he believed the U.S. had the “makings of a deal” with China after officials from the two countries met in Stockholm in a bid to resolve economic disputes aimed at extending their truce on a trade war by three months.
China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with the U.S. administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals.
Without a deal, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo.
Speaking to CNBC, Trump also said his administration would soon impose tariffs on U.S. imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and chips, which is expected to impact China.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Andrea Shalal and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Nick Zieminski)
