President Donald Trump, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, left, and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul pose with their documents during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A trade deal between the United States and China is drawing closer, officials from the world’s two largest economies said Sunday as they reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting.

Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even if it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.

Beijing recently limited exports of rare earth elements that are needed for advanced technologies, and Trump responded by threatening additional tariffs on Chinese products. The prospect of a widening conflict risked weakening economic growth worldwide.

China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, told reporters the two sides had reached a “preliminary consensus,” while Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said there was “a very successful framework.”

Trump also expressed confidence that an agreement was at hand, saying the Chinese “want to make a deal and we want to make a deal.” The Republican president is set to meet with Xi on Thursday in South Korea, the final stop of his trip through Asia.

Bessent told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the threat of additional higher tariffs on China was “effectively off the table.” In interviews on several American news shows, he said discussions with China yielded initial agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the U.S., and that Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earths.

When asked how close a deal was, Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said on “Fox News Sunday” that “it’s really going to depend” on the two presidents.

Meanwhile, Trump reiterated that he plans to visit China in the future and suggested that Xi could come to Washington or Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.

The progress toward a potential agreement came during the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Kuala Lumpur, with Trump seeking to burnish his reputation as an international dealmaker.

Yet his way of pursuing deals has meant serious disruptions at home and abroad. His import taxes have scrambled relationships with trading partners while a U.S. government shutdown has him feuding with Democrats.

At the summit, Thailand and Cambodia signed an expanded ceasefire agreement during a ceremony attended by Trump. His threats of economic pressure prodded the two nations to halt skirmishes along their disputed border earlier this year.

Thailand will release Cambodian prisoners and Cambodia will begin withdrawing heavy artillery as part of the first phase of the deal. Regional observers will monitor the situation to ensure fighting doesn’t restart.

“We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” Trump said. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet called it a “historic day,” and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace.”

The president signed economic frameworks with Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, some of them aimed at increasing trade involving critical minerals. The United States wants to rely less on China, which has used limits on exports of key components in technology manufacturing as a bargaining chip in trade talks.

“It’s very important that we cooperate as willing partners with each other to ensure that we can have smooth supply chains, secure supply chains, for the quality of life, for our people and security,” Greer said.

Trump attended this summit only once during his first term, and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed unfamiliar with ASEAN during his confirmation hearing in January.

This year’s event was a chance for Trump to reengage with nations that have a combined $3.8 trillion economy and 680 million people.