President Trump earlier in the day had downplayed tariff negotiations, saying at the White House, "We don’t have to sign deals."

President Donald Trump’s top trade officials will be holding face-to-face trade talks with a Chinese economic official for the first time since the U.S. imposed punishing tariffs on China and set off a global trade war.

Two Trump administration officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts to discuss trade in the coming days, the administration said Tuesday — a potentially key moment several weeks after the United States and China imposed steep tariffs on each other.