Trump: ‘Phase One’ of US trade deal with China will likely be signed in mid-November

China and the US may take the long-awaited step to ease trade tensions and sign a significant part of a new trade deal next month, US President Donald Trump has announced.

“We are looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign a very big portion of the China deal, we'll call it Phase One but it's a very big portion,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Monday, before leaving for a visit to Chicago.

He added that the pact may be signed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Chile on November 16–17.

The trade row between the world’s two biggest economies has been ongoing for more than a year, resulting in multiple rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs and restrictions.

The two sides have been trying to finalize an agreement in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the US decided to postpone tariff increases on Chinese goods, and Beijing agreed to buy between $40 billion and $50 billion worth of American agricultural goods.

American farmers were hit hard by the trade conflict, forcing the US government to react. Before China resumed the purchases, the Trump administration promised up to $28 billion in aid and even funds to farmers “if necessary.”

Trump said the first part of the deal would “take care of the farmers,” as well as “a lot of the banking needs.”

News of a possible US-China trade deal, as well as expected interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, have sent US markets higher after the opening bell on Monday. The S&P 500 index opened at a new record high, rising as far as 3,042.10 points, while both the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq indices were up around 0.6 percent.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section