By Mia Nurmamat
Copyright scmp
US President Donald Trump on Thursday hinted at the possible extension of a trade truce with China and at facilitating a deal for TikTok’s continued operation in America, as the market eagerly awaits any signs of progress in an anticipated phone call between the two countries’ leaders today.
Trump made the comments at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in which Trump said: “We’re pretty close to a deal. We may do an extension with China, but it’s an extension based on the same terms that we have right now, which are pretty good terms.”
The US is getting a “tremendous fee-plus” for making the deal involving the fate of the popular short-video app, Trump added. He also said the version of TikTok operating in the US will be owned by “all American investors” and legitimate companies that “love America”.
Trump and President Xi Jinping are expected to hold a phone call at 9am Washington time (9pm in Beijing) today, according to Bloomberg, and it would mark the first direct engagement between the leaders since June.
On Tuesday, before departing for the United Kingdom, Trump said at the White House that he had reached a trade deal with China and would speak with Xi on Friday to confirm it.
“We made a very good trade deal – and I hope good for both countries – but a very different deal than they’ve made in the past,” he said.
He also said a group of “very big companies” were interested in buying TikTok.
On the same day, Trump extended the deadline for TikTok’s US shutdown – for the fourth time since his second term began in January – until December 16.
After Trump escalated his tariff war in April, levies on each other’s goods surged to more than 100 per cent at one point.
The two nations launched trade talks in Geneva in May, agreeing to suspend most tariffs for 90 days. And after a third round of talks in Stockholm in late July, both sides extended the truce for another 90 days.
Last month, Trump said on social media that he had signed an executive order suspending higher tariffs until 12.01am EST on November 10.
The fourth round of talks wrapped up on Monday in Madrid, Spain, where Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent led delegations in two days of negotiations that centred on TikTok.
The Post reported this week that China and the US were in the “final stage” of arranging Trump’s state visit, after Beijing sent a formal state invitation to Trump earlier this month.
