US president Donald Trump plans to meet Chinese vice premier on Thursday

United States (US) president Donald Trump is planning to meet with Chinese vice premier Liu He on Thursday, a statement from the White House said in its latest update.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at 4.30pm, Washington time, or 8.30pm Greenwich Mean Time.

The meeting will have investors keenly watching for updates on the trade talks between both countries who are said to be finalizing the negotiations of their trade deal.

Top officials between both parties have been reported to be moving closer to signing a deal, nudging bond yields higher globally and softening the safe-haven yen.

End-game in sight

On Wednesday, Mr Liu met with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin to negotiate on the trade talks. The talks are expected to last for three days.

The discussions, if successful, could pave the way for the world leaders of the two largest economies to meet and sign an agreement this month, after 4-months of negotiations.

The trade talks between both parties faced a slight blip last month, as a summit between Mr Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping was postponed to later-than-expected from March to April.

The leaders were slated to hold a summit at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida last month, but no concrete plans were made.

‘We’re getting into the end-game stage,’ said the executive vice-president for international affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce Myron Brilliant. The executive told reporters on Tuesday 90% of the deal is done, but the last 10% is the hardest part. ‘It’s the trickiest part and it will require trade-offs on both sides.’

2025 trade target

The US intends to set a 2025 target as part of the trade deal for China to fulfil on its trade pledges, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday who cited sources on the condition of anonymity.

The proposed plan includes a commitment from China to purchase more commodities such as soybeans and energy products from the US. There are also plans to allow for a full-foreign ownership of US companies operating in China as a binding pledge.

Currency movements

Most major currencies moved higher against the greenback on Thursday amid signs of progress from the US-Sino trade conflict.

The Aussie dollar firmed up to US$0.7124, higher than the week’s low of US$0.7052 while the Sterling rose to a high of US$1.3183 and the Euro climbed to US$1.1248.

The greenback to yen eased to a low of ¥111.35 from a week’s high of ¥111.58.