The United States and China has recently agreed to the initial outlines of a trade deal that would de-escalate the tariff war between the world's top two economies.

US Pres. Donald Trump made the announcement Friday, saying the finalized accord could be signed between him Chinese counterpart Pres. Xi Jinping as soon as next month.

The latest development prompted Trump to suspend a scheduled 30% tariff hike from 25% on about US$250 billion worth of Chinese imports, although the US is yet to announce whether or not it will proceed as planned with another round of tariff increase set to go in effect by December.

"The deal I just made with China is, by far, the greatest and biggest deal ever made for our Great Patriot Farmers in the history of our Country. In fact, there is a question as to whether or not this much product can be produced? Our farmers will figure it out. Thank you, China!." Trump said in a tweet announcing agreement on phase one of the trade deal. 

"Other aspects of the deal are also great - technology, financial services, US$16-20 billion in Boeing planes, etc.," he added.

While the final details are yet to be released "in the next few weeks," part of the "substantial phase one" is also a concession from China for purchase of US$40-US$50 billion worth of US agricultural products, among others, which Trump said has already started.

"My deal with China is that they will immediately start buying very large quantities of our agricultural product, not wait until the deal is signed over the next 3 or 4 weeks. They have already started! Likewise, financial services and other deal aspects, start preparing ... I agreed not to increase Tariffs from 25% to 30% on October 15th. They will remain at 25%," Trump said.

Shipping and aviation have been hardly hit by the 18-month, tit-for-tat tariff war between the US and China, being cited as the main culprit behind the general slump in cargo, freight, and passenger volumes. Over the past year, it also raised caution among industry players as the tariff war was seen aggravating the effects of other risks in the industry.

The prolonged trade war has also spooked financial markets and slowed global growth.

The latest development was welcomed by the markets which saw equities rising globally amid optimism that the world’s two biggest economies would finally strike a deal.

Pres. Trump and Chinese President Xi will meet next month in Santiago, Chile to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on November 16.