WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that he believed that Washington has the makings of a deal with China and that he was “optimistic” about the path forward.
“This week’s negotiations in Stockholm have advanced our talks with China, and I believe that we have the makings of a deal that will benefit both of our great nations,” Bessent said in a post on X that was subsequently deleted.
“I am optimistic about the path forward,” he added.
A Treasury Department spokesperson said the post was being reposted because the images attached to it had not uploaded correctly. The spokesperson also noted that the language in the post was in line with what Bessent had said in various media interviews this week.
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Bessent said the United States believes it has the makings of a trade deal with China, but it is “not 100% done.”
U.S. negotiators “pushed back quite a bit” over two days of trade talks with the Chinese in Stockholm this week, Bessent told CNBC.
China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Sandra Maler)
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