Now that U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to a cease-fire with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over a trade war between their countries, Trump appears certain to shift his focus toward crafting a bilateral trade deal with Japan.
After signing a revamped trade pact Friday with Mexico and Canada with better terms for the United States, Trump agreed with Xi on Saturday to work to resolve issues such as forced technology transfer and intellectual property protection in exchange for suspending new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports for 90 days.
The developments on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires came as Washington readies for negotiations with Tokyo on a bilateral trade deal that could come as early as mid-January. Trump has repeatedly voiced his determination to slash Japan's trade surplus with the United States.