President Trump said on Monday that the US and China are set to “come away with” a trade and tariff deal ahead of his meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Japan from Malaysia.
Trump’s summit with Xi is set for Thursday in South Korea, with a weekend of advance talks creating optimism for a deal, Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reported Sunday.
“I believe we’ve reached a very substantial framework that will avoid [a tariff hike] and allow us to discuss that and many other things with the Chinese,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Bessent said he does not anticipate that Trump’s threat of 100% additional tariffs on China will go into effect on Nov. 1 as currently planned. Bessent added that he expects China will revive its purchases of US soybeans and delay its export restrictions on rare earths by a year.
Chinese state media confirmed the weekend’s talks in Malaysia yielded progress, describing a “basic consensuses on arrangements.”
Meanwhile, a spat over an ad featuring the late Ronald Reagan grew into an international incident, with Trump threatening to raise tariffs on Canada by an additional 10%.
The ad, funded by the Ontario government and posted to X by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, includes excerpts from an address Reagan gave in 1987 in which he defended free trade and slammed tariffs as outdated.
Trump said Thursday he would immediately stop all trade negotiations with Canada due to the ad, calling Canada’s behavior “egregious.”
Ford said Friday that Ontario was pausing the ad — but only after airing it during the World Series games over the weekend. “We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels.”
That did not appear to placate Trump, however, who said Saturday he would increase tariffs on Canada an additional 10% “above what they’re paying now.”
Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
The US and India are nearing a trade deal which could see tariffs on New Delhi cut to 15%-16% from their current 50% level, according to a report.
The White House is easing tariffs on the US auto industry, delivering a major win for carmakers who have lobbied to reduce the fallout from higher import duties..
In early November, the US Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to Trump’s most sweeping tariffs — the “reciprocal” country-by-country duties that you can see in the graphic above. A ruling against the tariffs — which would be in line with lower-court decisions — could have significant ramifications for Trump’s tariff strategy.
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‘Substantial framework’ in advance talks creates optimism for upcoming Trump-Xi meeting
President Trump’s closely-watched summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping is set for this Thursday in South Korea with increasing expectations after the weekend of advance talks have resulted in an environment that both sides say could be conducive to compromise.
“I believe we’ve reached a very substantial framework that will avoid [a tariff hike] and allow us to discuss that and many other things with the Chinese,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday morning on NBC’s Meet the Press.
The positive environment, he added, means he does not anticipate that Trump’s promise of 100% additional tariffs on China will go into effect on Nov. 1 as currently planned.Chinese state media confirmed this weekend’s talks in Malaysia yielded progress describing a “basic consensuses on arrangements.”
Perhaps most of interest to markets is talk from both Trump and Bessent that they see a path to de-escalation in what the president has described as an ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
“They’ll have to make concessions, I guess we will too,” Trump said on Air Force One this weekend as he flew to Asia.He added specifically of tariffs and his threat of a new 100% tariff rates that would push top-line rates north of 150% “I wouldn’t like to see it.”
