Investors have been anticipating a "phase one" trade deal between Washington and Beijing to be inked, ahead of a closely watched date of Dec. 15, when additional tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. are set to kick in.

But Trump told reporters on Tuesday: "In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal, but they want to make a deal now and we will see whether or not the deal is going to be right." When asked if he had a deadline for the deal, he added: "I have no deadline, no."

Fox News reported that the White House still plans on moving ahead with scheduled Dec. 15 tariffs on Chinese goods notwithstanding recent efforts at a "phase one" trade truce.

Meanwhile, a private survey of China's services sector is expected on Wednesday, with the Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index for November set to be out around 9:45 a.m. HK/SIN.

Overnight stateside, stocks tumbled amid the trade uncertainty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 280.23 points to close at 27,502.81 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.7% to end its trading day at 3,093.20. The Nasdaq Composite closed about 0.6% at 8,520.64.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.737 after falling from levels above 97.9 seen earlier.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.62 against the dollar after strengthening from lows around 109.2 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6851 after rising from levels below $0.684 in the previous session.

What's on tap:

• Australia: Third quarter GDP data at 8:30 a.m. HK/SIN
• China: Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index at 9:45 a.m. HK/SIN

— CNBC's Thomas Franck contributed to this report.