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Ross Downplays Prospect of Major Trade Deal at Trump-Xi Meeting

“I think the most that will come out of the G-20 might be an agreement to actively resume talks,” Ross said.

Ross Downplays Prospect of Major Trade Deal at Trump-Xi Meeting
Wilbur Ross, U.S. commerce secretary, speaks during the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C., U.S. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) --

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed the prospect of a major trade deal emerging from a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, this month.

“I think the most that will come out of the G-20 might be an agreement to actively resume talks,” Ross said in an interview Sunday with the Wall Street Journal from Paris, where he was attending the Paris Air Show. Talks between China and the U.S. broke off in early May.

Ross said the possible Trump-Xi meeting, which hasn’t been confirmed, might lay out “new ground rules for discussion and some sort of schedule for when detailed technical talks might resume.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ros Krasny in Washington at rkrasny1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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