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International shipping has been roiled by retaliatory port charges levied by the U.S. and China on each others’ ships in recent months, a move that pushed up freight costs.

The U.S. will also halve fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods, while Beijing resumes purchases of soybeans and other American agricultural products.

Initial signals indicate the leaders are readying a pact that could see a rollback of some tariffs, fees and export restrictions threatened or implemented in recent months.

South Korea Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom said that Seoul would spend $150 billion on shipbuilding in the U.S. and provide $200 billion in cash under an investment pledge.

Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even if it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.

President Donald Trump said late Oct. 23 that he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad in that country opposing U.S. tariffs.

China last year purchased $13 billion of U.S. soybeans — more than 20% of the entire crop — for animal feed and cooking oil, but still hasn’t booked a single shipment from this fall’s huge crop.

Prime Minister Mark Carney in an evening address to Canadians said the long process of an ever-closer economic relationship between the Canadian and U.S. economies is now over.

Tariffs appear somewhat limited in their ability to control what American firms import, as China’s sway over sectors such as rare earths and electronics makes its products hard to dislodge.

Soybean futures erased earlier gains after President Donald Trump said a planned meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, may not happen.