President Trump said Thursday he’s not ready to announce a trade summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying he’d like to strike a deal first.
Mr. Trump, seated with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, said he should know within four weeks whether they can reach a pact.
“If we have a deal, we’ll have a summit,” he told White House reporters.
Striking a trade deal with the Asian superpower is a key priority for Mr. Trump.
Warring tariffs between the nations have disrupted markets and U.S. sectors such as agriculture, though Mr. Trump says they’re a point of leverage that will work in the end.
“They very much want to make a deal. We’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump said of China during an earlier event Thursday. “We’ve been losing for many years — four-, five-, 600 billion dollars a year, we’re losing. It’s got to be a great deal.”
The president has suggested he will leave tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods even after a deal is struck, to ensure China complies with the terms.
“We’re going to make a very good deal or we’re not going to make a deal at all,” Mr. Trump said. “But it looks like it is moving along very nicely.”
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