BANGKOK (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday that very good progress was being made towards completing a phase one trade agreement with China and he was hopeful that it would be a precursor to a much more robust agreement.

A phase one U.S.-China trade deal is under discussion and may be signed later this month.

“We’re hopeful that phase one will be the precursor of a much more robust set of agreements,” Ross said during a call with reporters during a visit to Thailand for regional meetings.

He said the phase one agreement would reduce tensions and build trust between the United States and China and would also increase global trade confidence.

“If we resolve phase one, that will calm people down a lot because they’ll see an end point is hopefully within sight,” he said.