US-China trade deal - ready by next week?

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Could a free trade agreement between the US and China be ready as early as next week?


A trade deal between China and the US could be announced by next week following fruitful talks between the two nations, it has been claimed.

US delegates met with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing yesterday (May 1st 2019) in a bid to thrash out the details of a trade agreement, and Chinese premier Liu He is to travel to Washington next week.

In a White House statement, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said discussions have been "focused toward making substantial progress".

However, a source told CNBC they believe a deal could be agreed as early as next Friday. Politico also reported that US president Donald Trump may be prepared to make some concessions to get the agreement pushed through, such as removing a ten per cent duty on some of the Chinese goods it has previously applied levies to.

Speaking in a TV interview, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he thinks Trump administration officials will "either recommend to the president we have a deal or make a recommendation that we don't" after next week's round of negotiations.