President Trump said Monday he’s confident that China is sincere about wanting to reopen talks to end the escalating trade war between the two countries that has sent tariffs soaring.

“I think they want to make a deal very badly,” Trump said during a news conference at the G-7 summit in France alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.

Trump said he was buoyed when the Chinese vice chairman late Sunday said he wants to make a deal and “wants it to be under calm conditions.”

“I agree with him on that,” Trump said, adding that China has been hit hard by the tariffs and lost nearly 3 million jobs.

“I think they want very much to make a deal and the longer they wait, the harder it is to put it back — if they can be put back at all. So I believe they want to do a deal,” he said.

He went on to praise Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “great leader” and a “brilliant man” who can’t afford to lose 3 million jobs or more and the negative effects on the Chinese economy.

“I’m not sure they have a choice. And I don’t say that as a threat. I don’t think they have a choice,” he said.