The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the U.S. and China are nearing a trade deal that could potentially be signed as soon as late May or early June.

Citing unnamed sources, the Journal said that U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer will head to Beijing the week of April 29 to continue negotiations. Chinese envoy Liu He will then return to Washington D.C. the week of May 6 for additional discussions. The aim is for the senior officials to forge a fundamental agreement that would be tidied into final form over the course of May, with other officials handling the accord’s definitive text and legal language. A presidential signing could then occur by Memorial Day.

The U.S. and China have tentatively scheduled a fresh round of trade talks, aiming to sign a deal as soon as late May https://t.co/Xtw3689WP8

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 17, 2019

Learning of the potential deal, some executives in the promotional products industry were cautiously optimistic that an agreement could soon be reached. “It sounds promising,” said Joshua White, general counsel and senior vice president of strategic partnerships at Top 40 distributor BAMKO (asi/131431).

Still, just how things will play out remains to be seen. Deadlines for deal-finishing have come and gone in the past. Nonetheless, President Donald Trump’s late February decision to shelve a plan to escalate tariffs – from 10% to 25% -- on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports amid what he said was progress in trade talks potentially bodes well for a deal being forged.

In a development that’s especially relevant for the promotional products industry, sources told the Journal that one of the primary unresolved issues relates to tariffs. It’s unclear, the report said, which tariffs the U.S. will lift and which retaliatory levies imposed by China on U.S. imports will be removed.

“Removing a tranche of U.S. tariffs on $200 billion in imports from China would still leave significant tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese products,” the Journal reported. “Those levies led to major retaliation against U.S. farm products, a potential political liability for Mr. Trump.”

The Trump Administration’s tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports, imposed in late September, have created considerable challenges for the promotional products industry, as Counselor has reported on extensively. The tariffs figure into Counselor’s just-released analysis of Trump’s impacts – both positive and negative – on the promo industry through the first two years of his presidency.