U.S., China reach a preliminary deal

Staving off China's rareearth restrictions is "one of the major objectives of these talks, and I think we're progressing toward that goal very well," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on "Fox News Sunday.

- Flatley and Xiao write for Bloomberg. Bloomberg writers Sam Kim and Tony Czuczka contributed to this report.

PRESIDENT Trump attends the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

(VINCENT THIAN Pool Photo)

Trump predicted a "good deal with China" as he spoke with reporters on the sidelines of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, saying he expected high-level followup meetings in China and the U.S.

"They want to make a deal, and we want to make a deal," Trump said.

Still, markets will be closely watching the details of the ultimate agreement after nearly a year of headspinning changes to trade and tariff policies between Washington and Beijing.