WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he sees a “very good chance” of reaching a trade deal with China but is in “no rush” to reach an agreement.
“I think there’s a very good chance the deal will be made,” Trump said. “They want to make a deal. China wants to make a deal.”
But he also said that he is “in no rush. I want the deal to be right,” adding that “if it’s not, we’re not going to make that deal.”
Eight months into their sprawling trade war, US and Chinese officials have alternated between projecting optimism and warning that they have much to do before reaching a final outcome.
The two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, but US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday declined to state publicly whether Washington would lift the tariffs it has imposed so far if both sides reach a deal.
US officials are demanding far-reaching changes to Chinese industrial policy — including an end to massive state intervention in markets, subsidies and the alleged theft of American technology — and insist that any agreement must be enforceable.
© Agence France-Presse
