U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a deal to end a nearly 15-month trade war with China could happen sooner than people think and that the Chinese were making big agricultural purchases from the United States, including of beef and pork, Trend reports citing Reuters.
“They want to make a deal very badly... It could happen sooner than you think,” Trump told reporters in New York.
Trump said later after trade discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe there was a good chance of reaching a trade deal with China.
He said China was trying to be nice to him and added to reporters: “I was nice to them.”
The U.S. leader spoke a day after delivering a stinging rebuke to China’s trade practices at the United Nations General Assembly, saying he would not accept a “bad deal” in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said there was communication between the two sides and the Chinese would be in the United States for talks in early October.
“At this stage what you want to do is have confidence building and show goodwill, and I think ... we’re doing that,” he told reporters. “The president wants a deal if he can get a good deal. If he doesn’t ... we have a tariff policy in place.”