Trump says the US-China trade deal is in its 'final throes' - but analysts are skeptical

• The US and China are close to striking an agreement that could de-escalate their trade war, according to Donald Trump.
• "We're in the final throes of a very important deal," the president told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. "It's going very well."
• Experts aren't convinced by Trump's comments with one analyst saying, "If I had a pound for every time we heard a phase one trade deal was close..."
• View Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The US and China are close to striking an agreement that could de-escalate their trade war, according to Donald Trump.

"We're in the final throes of a very important deal," the president told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. "It's going very well."

Trump offered further comments during an interview with ex-Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "I'm holding it up because it's got to be a good deal," he said. "We can't make a deal that's like, even. We have to make a deal where we do much better, because we have to catch up."

Analysts were skeptical of Trump's rhetoric.

"If I had a pound for every time we heard a phase one trade deal was close ... but it is apparently still close, but is it very close like it was a few days earlier? Donald Trump says it's close anyway and that's all the excuse the bulls needed to get to new all-time highs on Tuesday," said Neil Wilson, chief markets analyst at Markets.com.

"Trump said the sides are in the 'throes' of doing a deal but added he's 'holding it up' to get a better deal. The usual stuff," Wilson added.

On Tuesday, the Chinese commerce ministry signaled that trade talks were progressing well and that both sides reached a "consensus" on how to solve thorny issues over a phone call. However, it still remains to be seen when the two sides will meet in-person to flesh out the key parts of the deal.

Stocks on Wednesday looked to be pushing higher with futures underlying the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both rising 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.