U.S. President Donald Trump has announced trade deals with Japan and a handful of other Asian countries that will relieve some pressure on companies and consumers from sharply higher tariffs on their exports to the United States.

A deal with China is under negotiation, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying an Aug. 12 deadline might be postponed again to allow more time for talks.

Global shares rallied on Wednesday, with Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index gaining 3.5% after Japan and the U.S. announced a deal on President Donald Trump's tariffs.

France's CAC 40 added 1.4% in early trading to 7,854.75, while Germany's DAX gained 0.9% to 24,260.62. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 9,075.46. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a trip to China might be "not too distant," raising prospects that the leaders of the world's two largest economies may meet soon to help reset relations after moving to climb down from a trade war.

Trump made the remarks while hosting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House, where he praised the "fantastic military relationship" with Manila as the U.S. looks to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

President Donald Trump announced a trade framework with Japan on Tuesday, placing a 15% tax on goods imported from that nation.

"This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it," Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that the United States "will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan."

Elon Musk fought court cases on opposite coasts Monday, raising a question about the billionaire that could either speed his plan to put self-driving Teslas on U.S. roads or throw up a major roadblock: Can this wildly successful man who tends to exaggerate really be trusted?

In Miami, a Tesla driver who has admitted he was wrong to reach for a dropped cell phone moments before a deadly accident, spoke of the danger of putting too much faith in Musk's technology — in this case his Autopilot program.

World shares were mixed on Tuesday after U.S. stock indexes inched to more records at the start of a week of profit updates from big U.S. companies.

Germany's DAX lost 0.9% to 24,086.56 and the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 0.6% to 7,753.96. Britain's FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged at 9,015.35.

President Donald Trump plans to host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday at the White House, as the two countries are seeking closer security and economic ties in the face of shifting geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region.

Marcos, who met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, is set to become the first Southeast Asian leader to hold talks with Trump in his second term.

Asian countries are offering to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas in negotiations with the Trump administration as a way to alleviate tensions over U.S. trade deficits and forestall higher tariffs. Analysts warn that strategy could undermine those countries' long-term climate ambitions and energy security.

Buying more U.S. LNG has topped the list of concessions Asian countries have offered in talks with Washington over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on foreign goods. Vietnam's Prime Minister underlined the need to buy more of the super-chilled fuel in a government meeting, and the government signed a deal in May with an American company to develop a gas import hub. JERA, Japan's largest power generator, signed new 20-year contracts last month to purchase up to 5.5 million metric tons of U.S. gas annually starting around 2030.

China's state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production.

In a report published Friday in the state-run newspaper Global Times, the Ministry of State Security said foreign "espionage and intelligence agencies" were colluding to steal rare earths-related goods by repackaging and relabeling rare metals to hide their Chinese origin.

Wall Street is drifting on Friday toward the finish of its third winning week in the last four, as more big U.S. companies deliver stronger profits for the spring than analysts expected.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in early trading after setting its all-time high the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.4% after coming off its own record.