"We were 90 percent ready with trade agreement with China"
Steve Mnuchin, finance minister of the United States of America, said Wednesday that the USA and China were very close to a trade agreement at some point. He is therefore quite optimistic that the trade war between the two countries will be resolved in the near future. The meeting between Trump and Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka could be a key moment.
According to US Finance Minister Steve Mnuchin, we have been very close to a trade agreement between the United States of America and China. He is therefore also convinced that we will soon be rid of the debilitating trade war.
"We were about 90% of the way there and I think there is a path to complete this."
Optimism
During the G20 summit in Osaka this weekend, Trump and Jinping will talk about the further course of the trade relationship between the two countries. Mnuchin is pretty sure that positive steps will be taken that will ultimately result in some sort of pre-agreement with a view to reaching a definitive trade agreement that will end the trade war.
The conversations will mainly concern the remaining 10 percent that currently have problems. Sentiment on the financial markets is already neutral. According to a survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 66 percent of investors do not expect an agreement to be reached this weekend, nor do they expect the trade war to escalate further.
"I'm hopeful that we can move forward with a plan. President Trump and President Xi have a very close working relationship. We had a productive meeting at the last G-20."
- So we have to wait for the conversations that will take place this weekend. At the start of the new stock market week Monday, it will immediately become clear how investors will digest the good or less good news. Mnuchin remains optimistic and expects a happy ending.
Sources: CNBC