Trump says US, China close to trade deal

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - China and the U.S. are zeroing in on an agreement that would mark a major milestone in their nearly two-year trade war, President Donald Trump claimed Thursday.

"Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!" Trump said on Twitter.

The trade dispute between the world's top two economies has sent shockwave through global markets amid fears that it could cause a global economic slowdown.

The Dow jumped more than 300 points in early morning trading on Trump's announcement, hitting all-time highs. Skepticism had been growing that Washington and Beijing would fail to hammer out what Trump has called a "phase one" agreement before year's end.

At issue for Washington is a lopsided trade balance with China -- the U.S. had a $378.6 billion trade deficit with China in 2018 -- as well as concerns over intellectual property theft, including what the Trump administration says is Beijing's policy of forcing American firms to transfer intellectual know-how to do business in China.

Trump has imposed wave after wave of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and China has responded in kind.

To date, the U.S. has imposed tariffs on some $360 billion in Chinese imports.