Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on Saturday agreed to resume trade talks, following a high-stakes meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the western Japanese city of Osaka.
US President Donald Trump said his meeting with Xi was “excellent” and that “we’re right back on track.”
Washington has also agreed not to slap new tariffs on Chinese exports “for at least the time being,” Trump confirmed at a news conference, corroborating earlier reports from China.
Many leaders had been eagerly watching to see if the pair could strike an agreement to ease tensions and end a trade war between their countries.
Before the meeting, Trump had said “it would be historic if we could do a fair trade deal.”
“We’re totally open to it and you’re totally open to it,” he told Xi.
Xi told Trump that “cooperation and dialogue” are better than “confrontation.”
“Today I’m prepared to exchange views with you concerning the growth of US-China relations so as to set the direction for our relationship,” Xi said ahead of the meeting.
The US president has already heaped taxes on $200 billion (€176 billion) of Chinese imports and has threatened to extend tariffs to almost all remaining Chinese goods shipped to the United States. Beijing has retaliated by slapping its own tariffs on imports from the US.
The dispute has already disrupted global supply chains and markets. Talks between US and Chinese officials over the tit-for-tat measures collapsed last month after 11 rounds of negotiations.