Mnuchin: We Were About 90 Of The Way On China Trade Deal And Theres A Path To Complete This

(CNBC) Holly Ellyatt Jun 26 2019 5:04 AM Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday the U.S. and China were close to a trade deal and hes optimistic that progress can be made during weekend talks between President Donald Trump and Chinas Xi Jinping. We were about 90 of the way there with a deal and I think theres a path to complete this" he told CNBCs Hadley Gamble in Manama Bahrain. He said hes confident Trump and the Chinese president can make progress in stalled trade talks at the Group of 20 meeting. The message we want to hear is that they want to come back to the table and continue because I think there is a good outcome for their economy and the U.S. economy to get balanced trade and to continue to build on this relationship." He did not provide any detail on what the final 10 of an agreement might entail or what the sticking points are to completing a deal. Trump is meeting his Chinese counterpart on Saturday at the G-20 summit in Osaka Japan. The outcome of the meeting could be pivotal for the global economy and financial markets which has been rattled by 18 months of trade tensions between the economic giants and an escalation of tariffs on each others imports. Officials have yet to negotiate a breakthrough but there are hopes that a meeting between the two presidents could help the discussions. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of investors found that about two-thirds expect no deal this weekend but there would be no new tariffs either. Im hopeful that we can move forward with a plan" Mnuchin told CNBC. President Trump and President Xi have a very close working relationship. We had a productive meeting at the last G-20."