U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, listens as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, talks while they line up for a group photo at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China February 15, 2019. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he may extend a March 1 deadline for reaching a trade deal with China while keeping current tariffs in place, adding that the negotiations are “very complicated.”

“There is a possibility that I will extend the date,” Trump told a news conference in the White House Rose Garden. “But if I do that, if I see that we’re close to a deal or the deal is going in the right direction, I would do that at the same tariffs that we’re charging now, I would not increase the tariffs.”

U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to rise to 25 percent from the current 10 percent rate if no deal is reached by March 1.