BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Following two days of closely watched trade talks, President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that the U.S. and China have reached a 'very substantial phase one deal.'
Trump said the deal includes up to $40 to $50 billion in Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products as well as Chinese concessions on intellectual property and financial services.
In exchange for the concessions by China, the U.S. has agreed to hold off on an increase in tariffs originally scheduled for next week.
Trump said the agreement would take about three weeks to write and would likely be signed by both sides by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile in November.
'Phase two will start almost immediately' after the first phase is signed, Trump said in an Oval Office meeting with China's lead negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He.
Trump made upbeat comments about the negotiations on Twitter earlier in the day, tweeting, 'Good things are happening at China Trade Talk Meeting. Warmer feelings than in recent past, more like the Old Days.'
Trump noted in a subsequent tweet that a potential trade deal with China would not have to go through the 'very long and politically complex Congressional Approval Process.'
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