The President once again offered hope to investors suggesting that trade talks could continue past the provisional deadline without increasing tariffs for Chinese goods, saying March 1 was “not a magical date”, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Another round of talks is due to take place this week in Washington involving mid-level officials. Last week’s visit by Robert Lighthizer to Beijing ended on positive terms, with both the US team and Chinese state media reporting progress.
“The real question will be: will we raise the tariffs?” Trump said to reporters. “I know that China would like not for that to happen. So I think they are trying to move fast so that doesn’t happen. But we’ll see what happens.”
Talk of a meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping in coming weeks have been edging towards confirmation. According to the Journal, US officials are keen for this meeting to take place in the US, which would act as an effective deadline for a deal.