US and China agree ‘framework’ for trade deal ahead of Xi-Trump meeting | First Thing

US treasury secretary anticipates tariff truce with China will be extended, and that Beijing will revive substantial purchases of US soybeans. Plus, is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?Good morning.The US and China have agreed a framework for a trade deal only days before Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping are due to meet.What about other trade deals that are still up in the air? There were hopes of a truce between the US and Brazil after what President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described as a “positive” meeting with Trump in Malaysia. Their respective teams will start “immediately” to discuss tariffs and other matters, he said.And Canada? Trump said Saturday that he will raise US tariffs by 10% in retaliation for an advertisement sponsored by the Ontario government that accurately quoted Ronald Reagan at length saying tariffs don’t work.How many people have been killed in the airstrikes? US forces in recent weeks have carried out at least eight strikes against boats in the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, killing about 40 people that the Trump administration has insisted were involved in smuggling drugs. Continue reading...