US - China Trade News: Agreement May Be Near, As Trump Hints At Possible Deal

President Trump hinted Wednesday a trade deal with China is in the offing ahead of next month’s high-level talks between U.S. and Chinese negotiators.

“They want to make a deal very badly. ... It could happen sooner than you think,” Trump told reporters in New York, just a day after he said he has no intention of accepting a “bad” deal. Earlier, he said he doesn’t want a deal focused solely on agriculture.

The last round of talks broke down in May on national security issues. Talks are scheduled to resume in two weeks in Washington. Deputy-level talks were held last week.

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting, Trump said Wednesday the Chinese were being nice to him. “I was nice to them,” he said.

Trump attacked China’s economic model in his remarks Tuesday at the U.N.

“Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale,” Trump said. He also accused China of manipulating the World Trade Organization.

China’s foreign minister said his country would not bow to threats and hoped next month’s talks would produce positive results. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the trade war has damaged both countries’ economies.

Trump began pressuring China more than a year ago, imposing tariffs on billions of Chinese imports.

In its latest goodwill gesture, China said Wednesday it would buy more U.S. farm products, including soybeans and pork, waiving additional tariffs. Last week, the United States excluded hundreds of Chinese products, including Christmas lights and pet supplies, from a 25% tariff imposed on $250 billion in Chinese goods and postponed a 30% tariff.

Trump on Wednesday also announced what he described as the first stage of a “phenomenal” trade agreement with Japan and predicted a comprehensive deal would be reached soon. Trump had threatened Japan with tariffs on autos and auto parts as a means of reducing a $58 billion trade deficit. He said a deal would open new markets to $7 billion in U.S. products. Japan is the third largest U.S. agricultural export market.