Trump tells officials to ready potential trade deal with China: report

President Trump has asked Cabinet officials to begin drafting a potential trade deal with China ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) summit later this month, four people familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday G20 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping could include trade discussions and will include a formal dinner. 

{mosads}Multiple agencies are being tasked with crafting drafts, Bloomberg reports, but it is unclear whether Trump is willing to ease up U.S. demands.

The new push for a deal was reportedly spurred by Trump’s Thursday call with Xi, which the president described as “long and very good,” touching on trade as well as other topics.

Billions in tit-for-tat tariffs over the last several months have chilled U.S.-China trade discussions.

In September, the Chinese declined another meeting after Trump hit U.S. imports from China with a new 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in goods. Beijing retaliated with $60 billion of its own tariffs.

Trump said he would raise those tariffs to 25 percent without a U.S.-China deal.

Trump has also threatened another $257 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods, which would cover all U.S. imports from China.