U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signaled a potential end to the tit-for-tat tariff hikes between the U.S. and China that shocked markets, and that a deal over the fate of social media platform TikTok may have to wait.

Trump tariffs in 2016 sent a glut of cheap Chinese imports, originally intended for the US, into South East Asia, hurting many local manufacturers. But they also opened new doors for other businesses, often into global supply chains that wanted to cut their dependence on China.

"There will be a trade deal 100%," Trump said ahead of a luncheon at the White House with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. "I fully expect it."

Beijing is using a mix of carrots and sticks to try to prevent other countries from siding with the United States in isolating China.

China’s dominance of the rare earths supply chain has emerged as a potent tool in its renewed trade war with the United States. The minerals are used to power everything from iPhones to fighter jets.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited China on Thursday as the executive behind high-powered artificial-intelligence chips seeks to navigate the trade war between the U.S. and China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Beijing on Thursday, said Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account associated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Huang arrives at a time when the United States has put new restrictions on China-bound shipments of H20 datacentre GPUs,

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Thursday that China was a very important market for Nvidia after the U.S. imposed a ban on sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to the country.