(Apr 13): President Donald Trump directed officials to explore rejoining an Asia-Pacific trade pact he withdrew from shortly after taking office and expressed optimism about a deal with China, a shift in tone that boosted sentiment in the markets.

A week after escalating tensions with his threat to impose tariffs on an additional US$100 billion in Chinese products, Trump said Thursday the two countries ultimately may end up levying no new tariffs on each other.

“Now we’re really negotiating and I think they’re going to treat us really fairly,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Republican governors and lawmakers from farm states. “I think they want to.”

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