U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced on Twitter that he has “an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan” with President Xi Jinping of China, and the news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring more than 300 points.
Had a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China. We will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan. Our respective teams will begin talks prior to our meeting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019
Less than 20 minutes after the opening bell, the Dow was up 349 points, or 1.3%, the S&P 500 was up 36 points, or 1.3%, and the Nasdaq rose 140 points, or 1.8%. Thirty minutes before the closing bell, the Dow was up 368 points, or 1.4%, the S&P 500 was up 28 points, or 1.0%, and the Nasdaq was up 110 points, or 1.4%.
Trump had previously threatened to slap tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports if Xi didn’t agree to meet with him at the G-20 summit later this month, Jun 28-29 in Osaka.
China had kept quiet so far about whether or not the two presidents would meet, as the two sides remain locked in an escalating trade war that has created volatility for Wall Street among numerous projections of an inbound recession due to the fight.
For all of the market’s gyrations this morning, the Trump administration has previously warned that no one should expect a new trade deal to come out of the meeting.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said last week that the summit is “not a place where anyone makes a definitive deal.”
“The trade deal is gonna be thousands of pages,” Ross said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “At the G-20, at most, it will be a 40,000-foot level, some sort of agreement on a path forward — it’s certainly not going to be a definitive agreement.”
Trump also has said previously that he is the one holding things up to ensure the U.S. gets the best deal possible after China tried to “renege” on parts of the deal that had already been settled.
“It’s me right now that’s holding up the deal,” Trump said. “And we’re going to either do a great deal with China or we’re not going to do a deal at all.”
Editor’s note: Do you think Trump will be able to work out a trade deal with China, and how soon do you think it could happen? Share your thoughts below.