Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 2/13/19


Reports that President Trump may extend the March 1 deadline to impose $200 million in new tariffs on goods from China if current talks progress helped buoy the U.S. stock market on Wednesday but were met with a degree of skepticism in the Chinese media.

Top U.S. and Chinese officials are spending this week discussing a new trade deal after the two sides called a 90-day moratorium on tariffs in December. President Trump this week also announced he would consider letting the March 1 deadline "slide for a little while” if advances are made.

U.S trade negotiators have yet to resolve many of the major issues as the deadline approaches, but President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could meet to hammer out final deal points, most likely after the deadline.

Such a meeting could take place next month on the tropical island of Hainan – as China has suggested through the South China Morning Post – although a meeting also could be held in Florida, according to the U.S. news website Axios. U.S. officials say the location for any meeting between the two leaders has yet to be determined, according to a variety of news reports.

Regardless of the status of any high-level meeting, an opinion piece that is not considered a direct statement from the Chinese government called the March 1 deadline a “media topic created by the U.S. side,” the South China Morning Post reported. The online opinion piece noted that reaching a deal is the real issue, not the timeframe.

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