Donald Trump tweets that a US-China trade deal is ‘very close’, buoying stock market
- ‘They want it, and so do we!’ the US president says in his Twitter post, sending the S&P 500 surging to a record high
- Tweet comes with 15 per cent tariffs on US$156 billion of Chinese imports slated to go into effect on Sunday
Washington and Beijing are “very close” to reaching a deal that would halt the 17-month-old tariff battle between the world’s two biggest economies, US President Donald Trump said in a Twitter post on Thursday.
“Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China,” Trump said in his tweet. “They want it, and so do we!” he added.
He did not elaborate. The promise of at least a ceasefire in the prolonged trade war delighted the investment community, as stocks surged soon after the tweet, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high.
Trump’s comments come amid a flurry of reports that a tariff hike slated to go into effect on Sunday will not go ahead.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the negotiations, reported that the US side has offered to cut existing punitive tariffs on Chinese goods by as much as half in addition to cancelling the new round of levies.
