American and Chinese negotiators have agreed to continue their trade talks, a White House spokesman said Thursday.
That confirmation came after U.S. President Donald Trump met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday to discuss the negotiations to rescue a trade deal that is close to collapsing.
“This evening, Ambassador (Lighthizer) and Secretary Mnuchin met with President Trump to discuss the ongoing trade negotiations with China. The Ambassador and Secretary then had a working dinner with Vice Premier Liu He, and agreed to continue discussions tomorrow morning at USTR,” Judd Deere, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement.
U.S. futures had been positive for much of Thursday evening, but turned negative following news that the trade talks would continue into Friday — implying no deal had been struck before the midnight deadline for increased tariffs.
As expected, 12:01 ET passed and the Trump administration raised tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
—CNBC’s Eustance Huang and Kate Rooney, and Reuters contributed to this report.
