Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner MnuchinOn The Money: Powell, Mnuchin stress limits of emergency loans | House seeks to salvage vote on spending bill | Economists tell lawmakers: Kill the virus to heal the economy Economists spanning spectrum say recovery depends on containing virus Powell, Mnuchin stress limits of current emergency lending programs MORE said Monday that he is cautiously optimistic about upcoming meetings with China on trade issues.

“I'm cautiously optimistic about the meetings. I don’t really want to predict what’s going to happen, what’s not going to happen,” Mnuchin told Fox Business. “We’re going to go over there and have frank discussions.”

A U.S. trade delegation will travel to China this week to discuss tariffs and regulations with Chinese officials.

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Mnuchin said that he hopes to have “a very frank discussion on trade, on the issues of the trade imbalance.”

The meeting comes after President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE implemented steep tariffs on Chinese goods that led Beijing to retaliate with their own tariffs on American goods. There is fear that such a face-off could lead to a trade war between the two nations.

The U.S. has not sent an advance team to China for preliminary negotiations — an unusual decision for these kind of meetings.

“President Trump has been very clear for the last year that he is very focused on the trade deficit and we are looking to correct that,” Mnuchin said.

“The president is determined that we have free and fair and reciprocal trade,” Mnuchin added.

Trump has said he thinks there’s a good chance the U.S. can make a deal with China during the meetings.