Trump Says New Round of Trade Talks With China Already Has Begun

(Bloomberg) --

President Donald Trump said a new round of trade talks with China is underway, ending a stalemate between the two countries amid escalating tariffs.

“It has already begun. They are speaking very much on the phone,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, referring to the two nations’ trade negotiators. “It actually began before our meeting,” he added, referring to his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Japan on Saturday.

The two leaders announced the resumption of talks after their meeting, reflecting a truce in their trade war. Trump said he would hold off imposing an additional $300 billion in tariffs as talks continued.

Trump made the threat of more duties in May after he said China reneged on language that had previously been negotiated. It wasn’t clear what concessions Xi offered to get talks restarted.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.