President Trump on Wednesday raised hopes of striking a trade deal with China, telling reporters, “It could happen sooner than you think.”
Markets rallied somewhat on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping as much as 150 points following the declaration.
{mosads}The tense trade war with China has eaten into economic growth and begun dragging at both business and consumer confidence.
But tensions have eased somewhat in recent weeks, as the two sides agreed to renew negotiations. Trump agreed to postpone tariff increases scheduled for Oct. 1 by two weeks, and China bought roughly 10 boatloads of U.S. soybeans.
Trump’s declarations may not portend an imminent deal, despite talks scheduled for early October. He has previously said the sides were close to a deal, only for negotiations to break down and lead to more tariffs.
He reiterated arguments Wednesday that China was bearing the brunt of the trade war’s negative effects.
“We’ve picked up trillions of dollars and they’ve lost trillions of dollars and they want to make a deal very badly,” he said.
Brett Samuels contributed.