Reuters President Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. and China will sign the first phase of a trade deal on Jan. 15 and that he will travel to China “at a later date” to begin the second round of talks.
The two countries agreed earlier this month to rescind some existing tariffs and delay the imposition of new ones in an effort to lower trade tensions that have hurt the economies of both countries.
The preliminary agreement canceled another round of U.S. tariffs that were set to go into effect earlier in December. China, for its part, promised to buy more U.S. farm products.
The most contentious issues between the two countries remain unresolved, however, and experts are skeptical that the U.S. and China can bridge the divide anytime soon.
Still, the renewed effort by the two countries to tamp down tensions and extend talks has calmed financial markets and could give a small boost to their economies.
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At the height of tensions last summer, stocks temporarily fell and the U.S. manufacturing industry began to contract.
U.S. stocks were trading on either side of unchanged Tuesday amid profit-taking on low volumes ahead of the New Year holiday on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.07% was off 2 points, or less than 0.1% to 28,457, while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.03% gained 1 point to 3,222.
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