Wall Street fell off a cliff yesterday, losing 3% or more of its value after president Donald Trump confirmed nothing much had changed following his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping on December 1.

President Donald Trump met Tuesday with executives from Germany's big automakers amid U.S.

Trump, meanwhile, in a post on Twitter, said he believes Xi had been honest during their meeting last Saturday to hammer out progress over trade.

"President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will".

But Trump again sought to paint the talks in a more positive light, highlighting a report from Bloomberg that "Chinese officials have begun preparing to restart imports of U.S. Soybeans & Liquified Natural Gas" that were put on hold as a result of the president's initial tariffs.

The wide rout was partly fueled by the arrest of a key executive of telecom giant Huawei Technologies, whose apprehension in Canada could threaten the recent truce in the trade war between the US and China.

The two countries have hit each other with tit-for-tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars in sectors from automobiles to agriculture and energy, stymieing trade and redrawing global supply chains.

Chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow (pictured) acknowledged challenges in remarks Tuesday morning.

Beijing has yet to confirm Mr Trump's claim that China promised to cut vehicle tariffs and immediately buy more American farm goods. "So this time around as I said, I'm hopeful, we're covering more ground than ever..." In September, Trump threatened to go all-in with tariffs on the remaining Chinese products "on short notice if I want" - a step that could have meant higher prices on popular imports such as Apple smartphones and Nike shoes.

'All of these help to safeguard China's legitimate interests, and are also in the interests of the United States, and even more are in line with the expectations of the global community, ' he added in a statement carried on the foreign ministry's website. This fundamental misunderstanding of economics, combined with his reckless announcement of the detente that wasn't, scared investors and continues to undermine his administration's efforts at reaching a real trade deal with China. But on Tuesday, after a series of confusing and conflicting words from Trump and some senior officials, stocks tumbled, with the Dow Jones shedding about 800 points, or 3.1%.

Su believed that the important consensus reached by Xi and Trump would offer direction for future China-U.S. relations.

Kudlow said he did not think that auto tariffs were imminent, though he added that they were in Trump's "quiver of arrows".

But China is showing little indication it would accept a major overhaul of its state-driven system, a move that economists say would be necessary to even out the trade imbalance that Trump scorns.

Shares of USA and overseas auto companies rose on the announce-ment, though it's unclear how much companies like GM or Ford will actually benefit.

China implemented a 25% retaliatory tariff on USA pork products on April 1, which remains.

But China later broke its silence on the truce with a spokesman saying that the negotiations have a timeline and China plans to quickly work on the "agreed upon consensus".

But Kudlow said the ultimate amount will depend on market prices and the health of China's economy.

But the White House has now backpedaled, acknowledging there was no deal in place to roll back automotive tariffs.

It was the first official confirmation from China that there is a 90-day window for the talks. Japan and the European Union, Britain, the Philippines and possibly Taiwan, he said, would naturally take precedence over China. Or it might illustrate China's weak commitment to the deal.

Kevin Scott, who farms near Valley Springs, South Dakota, and serves on the American Soybean Association, said the news provides hope for farmers who are storing their crops while awaiting better prices.

Some retailers were also encouraged by the agreement, according to the National Retail Federation.