Asian markets are up as China's Ministry of Commerce announced negotiators from Beijing and Washington discussed "core issues" over the phone on Tuesday morning.

By Monday's close Wall Street, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed at record highs.

Many are hopeful that a "phase one" trade deal between China and the U.S. can be reached before new tariffs go into effect on December 15.

Tariffs have been a main sticking point of the trade dispute, with U.S. President Donald Trump claiming that China was undercutting its currency and taking advantage of the U.S.

Trump also claimed that China would be paying for the tariffs which the U.S. government put on many Chinese made goods. 

A recent report by the New York Fed Reserve Bank found that U.S. companies and consumers are paying most of the tariff costs, and not China.