Talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump may have produced an agreement in the bilateral trade feud, with both men agreeing that no additional tariffs will be imposed after January 1, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Citing Chinese state media, the report said that "no additional tariffs will be imposed after January 1, and negotiations between the two sides will continue," state television's English-language service said, without giving further details.
As the U.S. and China trade blows in an increasingly hostile trade relationship, Trump and Xi dined at the G-20 summit in Argentina in hopes of reaching an accord.
The stakes are high, and rising. The Trump administration has threatened to more than double the tariffs it has already slapped on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, while Xi's government has put targeted tariffs on $110 billion in U.S. goods. The standoff has raised fears among investors and businesses that the global economy could be dragged down by the dispute between the world's two largest economies.
The meeting in Buenos Aires has bred hope that the escalating trade conflict can be at least temporarily put on hold pending more in-depth negotiations. Trump, who made U.S. trade policy a central plank of his platform as a presidential candidate in 2016, wants to address specific gripes with China's trade practices, especially its alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property.
Trump touted the G-20 meeting thus far as a "great success" in a pair of tweets Saturday. But he postponed a press conference, which was scheduled to follow a summit meeting, until after the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush, who died at age 94 on Friday.
The dinner follows developments with other world leaders at the diplomatic gathering. In a joint declaration, the group of nations said the current multilateral trading system is "falling short of its objectives and there is room for improvement," and supported reforms to the World Trade Organization.
The document also reaffirmed the need to continue to tackle climate change, while noting that the U.S. "reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and affirms its strong commitment to economic growth and energy access and security, utilizing all energy sources and technologies, while protecting the environment."
--CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.
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