Trump says he has not agreed to roll back tariffs on China, after week of trade optimism

President Donald J. Trump and Xi Jinping by Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead is licensed under
President Donald Trump said Friday he has not agreed to scrap tariffs on Chinese goods, dampening hopes about a coming resolution to a jarring trade conflict.

“They’d like to have a rollback. I haven’t agreed to anything,” he told reporters before departing the White House on his way to Georgia. “China would like to get somewhat of a rollback, not a complete rollback because they know I won’t do it.”

Stocks fell to their session lows following Trump’s comments, as optimism had risen about the prospects of the U.S. scrapping duties.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said Thursday that negotiators from Washington and Beijing “agreed to remove the additional duties imposed on each other’s products in different phases after they make progress” in striking a trade deal, according to a CNBC translation. Gao did not specify how much of the tariffs the world’s two largest economies would revoke.
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