US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (photo: Bloomberg)

He told the media on Tuesday that the face-to-face conference between the leaders, yet to be officially confirmed, would at most result in “some sort of agreement on a path forward”.

Trump raised the stakes of the potential face-to-face discussion, saying that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on the remaining 300 billion USD of currently untaxed Chinese imports if Xi declines to meet.