US-China Trade Deal ‘Possible’ by Next Friday – Reports

The US and China may announce a trade deal by next Friday, sources tell CNBC, as the world’s two largest economies push for an agreement to end an ongoing trade dispute.

The announcement of a US trade deal with China is “possible” by next Friday, sources told CNBC on Wednesday, as the world’s two largest economies try to hammer out details of an agreement. The talks would also feature Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, who will travel to Washington for talks next week.

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House confirmed that Washington and Beijing are getting closer to an agreement. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that “discussions remain focused toward making substantial progress on important structural issues and rebalancing the US-China trade relationship.”

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White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney also said Tuesday that the US would know “one way or the other in the next couple weeks” about the outcome of the trade talks.

The Trump administration could possibly maintain some of the provisional tariffs as part of the deal. In a final agreement, the US could immediately remove a 10% duty on part of the $200 billion tariffed Chinese goods, Politico reported on Wednesday. The news outlet suggested that Washington would keep a 25% tariff on $50 billion in goods until after the November 2020 election.

Beijing and Washington have been engaged in a trade dispute since June 2018, when Trump announced that the United States would subject $50 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent tariffs in a bid to fix the over $400 billion US-Chinese trade deficit.