Suddenly, the odds of a China-US trade deal are rising anew as Xi Jinping expresses a willingness to sit down with Donald Trump’s White House.

With clear pre-conditions, of course. As Bloomberg and other news outlets report, President Xi’s government wants Trump and his cabinet to tone down the rhetoric, clarify what exactly Washington seeks and name a specific point person to lead the talks. China named a new trade representative on Wednesday.

Each of these could be a non-starter – or a spoiler over time – given US Trump’s penchant for late-night social-media tantrums and wild policy shifts from moment to moment. After all, Trump’s taxes on mainland goods have traveled at warp speed from 10% to 145%.