Just three days before a scheduled tariff hike on billions of dollars’ worth of imports, President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States is nearing an agreement that could put a halt to its protracted trade war with China.
The American leader took to Twitter on Thursday morning, writing that Washington is “getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL” with Beijing. “They want it, and so do we!” Trump added.
The comment comes ahead of an upcoming 15% duty set to take effect on Dec. 15, impacting a wide array of consumer goods including footwear, apparel and accessories. A meeting between Trump and top economic advisors is planned for today, when the administration is expected to make a decision about whether to delay the tariffs.
Major stock indexes climbed on the news: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 145 points shortly before 12 p.m. ET, while the S&P 500 grew 18 points and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 35 points. Investors are closely watching the banter between the world’s two largest economies, particularly as negotiators from the U.S. and China have made conflicting announcements on what a so-called “phase one” trade deal would entail.
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Early this month, Trump rattled markets on suggestions that the White House might wait until after next year’s presidential election to strike a trade pact. In the past year and a half, the U.S. and China have imposed tit-for-tat duties on one another, with the former seeking increased Chinese purchases of agricultural products and the latter looking for possible tariff relief.
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