President Trump claimed Friday that China was interested in a “big and very comprehensive deal” with the U.S. because these Chinese economy is feeling the impact of a trade war with the U.S.

“China just announced that their economy is growing much slower than anticipated because of our Trade War with them,” Trump tweeted Friday. “They have just suspended U.S. Tariff Hikes. U.S. is doing very well. China wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. It could happen, and rather soon!”



China just announced that their economy is growing much slower than anticipated because of our Trade War with them. They have just suspended U.S. Tariff Hikes. U.S. is doing very well. China wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. It could happen, and rather soon! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018



Earlier this week, it was reported that the U.S. and China are moving forward with trade discussions, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He recently talked about agricultural and industrial policy in a phone call.

The Trump administration has established a March 1 deadline to negotiate an arrangement with China before higher tariffs are slated to go into effect. The scheduled increase would boost tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, from 10 percent to 25 percent.

It’s uncertain how firm that deadline is, as top Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow has suggested the deadline may be changed. However, Lighthizer suggested the deadline was definite on Sunday.