China’s president vows to lower tariffs, increase imports amid tensions with US

Chinese president Xi Jinping vowed to lower tariffs, broaden market access and increase imports on Monday.

Xi made the comments at a trade expo designed to demonstrate goodwill in the midst of the U.S.-China trade war, Reuters reports.

The U.S. and China have been smacking escalating tariffs on each other’s goods as trade negotiations stall.

{mosads}However, Xi’s recent statements match comments Trump made Friday, expressing confidence that he could strike a deal with China at talks later this month.

“I think we’ll make a deal with China,” Trump told reporters.

“We’re getting much closer to doing something,” he said. “They very much want to make a deal.”

He said that any deal they reached would have to be “a good deal for the United States” and a “fair deal” for both countries.

Though Bloomberg reported Friday that Trump asked Cabinet officials to draw up terms for a trade deal after a call with Xi, top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow tempered expectations.

“We’re doing a normal, routine run-through of things that we’ve already put together and normal preparation,” Kudlow told CNBC. “We’re not on the cusp of a deal.”