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Over the past 24 hours, the White House has a flurry of mixed messages a year in progress tit-for-tat that started with Trump's decision to tax trillions of dollars worth of Chinese imports.
Trump has teased a victory in the trade war ahead of next week's crucial midterm elections, claiming that the President of the World Summit of Global Leaders in Argentina later this month.
"We want to make a deal with China," said Trump said Friday outside the White House.
The US administration told CNN this week. But they also said a trade deal with China is still far off They are not at a place yet to start formally drafting a trade deal.
The administration has taken a tough stance with China over the past two months. Trump escalated the trade in September by slapping tariffs on $ 200 trillion of Chinese goods, on top of an earlier $ 50 trillion round. The move drew complaints from US importers who will have to pay for them. The administration has also asked for this week.
But after the President spoke with him on Thursday, he said that "discussions are moving along nicely" – and said meetings are already being planned for the G20. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs echoed his positive tone in a Friday briefing with reporters.
Here's a quick time of what the President and senior officials say:
- Thursday morning: Trump says on Twitter that he just had a "long and very good conversation" with Xi and that "discussions are moving along nicely."
- Midday Thursday: Kudlow tells reporters iThe White House can be a "thaw" between the United States and China on trade. But he also dinged Beijing, crowing that the US economy is doing better than superpower's rival: "From our view, we're booming." China's not.
- Later Thursday afternoon: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces charges against a Chinese company for stealing trade secrets, a new initiative to fight economic espionage.
- Thursday night: Trump remains optimistic, saying that the Chinese "want to make a deal." "Lots of great things are going to happen," he said. "It's going to work out good."
- Overnight: Bloomberg news reports that Trump has asked key. The report sends stocks higher.
- Friday morning: A White House official walks back to the Bloomberg report, telling CNBC that there is a long way to go before reaching an agreement. US stocks turned negative.
- Friday afternoon: Kudlow, speaking on CNBC, says the administration is doing "normal, routine preparation for the upcoming meeting between Trump and Xi." We are not on the cusp of a deal, "he said, but did note there were" good vibes "from the phone call on Thursday.
- Later Friday afternoon: Trump reiterated how well he thought about his recent conversation with Xi went. "A lot of progress has been made," he told reporters outside the White House.
The trump administration wants the Chinese to address what it says to unfair trade practices, including intellectual property theft. Trump also argues that the trade imbalance between the two countries hurts the United States.
Many American manufacturers, farmers and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle say they appreciate the administration's efforts to change China's trade policies. But some argue the tariffs are not the best way to address the issues. Tariffs poses a dilemma to US importers who must decide whether to absorb the cost of the goods, or pass it on to consumers and to be expelled from China's retaliatory tariffs.
CNN White House reporters Jeff Zeleny and Abby Phillip contributed to this report from Washington, and reporter Nanlin Fang contributed from Beijing.
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