Trump said he would consider an interim trade deal with China

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would consider an interim trade deal with China, even if he would not prefer it.

The president told reporters that he wanted to sign a comprehensive agreement with the world's second largest economy. However, he left the door open to the conclusion of a limited deal with Beijing.

"If we will wrap up the deal, let's finish it," he told reporters as he was leaving for a Republican congressional retreat in Baltimore. "A lot of people are talking about it, I see that a lot of analysts say that it takes a tentative agreement, which means we'll make some pieces, the easiest ones first." But there's There is no easy or difficult solution, there is an agreement or not, but it is something we would consider, I suppose. "

Trump's statements add to the confusion created earlier in the day by what the White House would accept in its ongoing negotiations with China. The US stock indexes first rose after a report that the Trump administration had spoken of the conclusion of an interim agreement. A White House official said the United States was "absolutely not" considering the purchase of such an agreement, which would have caused the markets to cede some of these gains.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification as to whether Trump's position had changed since the beginning of the day.

Trade negotiators from the world's two largest economies plan to meet next week as they continue their efforts to save a trade pact and end a growing conflict. The trade war between the United States and China has raised concerns about the suffering of US consumers and has fueled fears of slowing global economic growth.

On Wednesday, Trump announced that it would delay rising tariffs of $ 250 billion from Chinese goods until October 15 instead of October 1. He called the move "good will" because of "the fact that the People's Republic of China will celebrate its 70th anniversary."

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