US President Donald Trump’s trade chief has warned that negotiations to end the tariff war with China were at risk of failing, saying “major, major issues” needed to be resolved before an agreement was reached, and he could not “predict success at this point”. 

Speaking before the Senate finance committee on Tuesday, Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, said that talks with Beijing had intensified and probably entered their “final weeks”, as the two countries haggle over structural reforms and enforcement provisions. But Mr Lighthizer indicated that a deal could not be taken for granted. 

“We’re either going to have a good result or we’re going to have a bad result before too long, but I’m not setting a specific timeframe and it’s not up to me,” Mr Lighthizer said. “I’ll work as hard as I can, and the president will tell me when the time is up, or the Chinese will,” he added.