UPDATE 1-Trump predicts U.S. will reach trade deal with China

President Donald Trump on Monday predicted the United States would reach a deal with China to end a tit-for-tat trade war, saying Beijing wants to negotiate and that talks are going well.

Trump, who made the comments to reporters at the White House, has vowed to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on March 2 if China fails to address intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers and other non-tariff barriers.

The world's two largest economies held mid-level talks in Beijing last week and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that China's top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, would likely visit Washington later this month.

The meetings in China were the first face-to-face discussions since Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Buenos Aires in December and agreed to a 90-day truce in the trade war that has disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe)

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