THRASHING IT OUT

China and U.S. Officials Sketch Out Deal to End Trade War

Deal reported to be based on six agreements.

The United States and China have sketched out the broad commitments each country will have to agree to in order to bring an end to the seven-month trade war that has driven a wedge between the world’s two biggest economies, Reuters reports. While the terms remain quite rough at this stage, the outline of a deal is reportedly becoming clearer ahead of March 1, which will mark the end of a 90-day truce agreed upon by Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Negotiators from both sides are reportedly drawing up six memorandums of understanding on structural issues: forced technology transfer and cybertheft, intellectual-property rights, services, currency, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade. From Washington’s perspective, those memos are aimed at bringing an end the practices that Trump says led him to start levying duties on Chinese imports. However, officials remain far apart on agreeing to demands made by Trump for structural changes to China’s economy, according to the report.

opinion

INSEPARABLE?

It's Time to Walk Away From the China Trade War Talks

Gordon G. Chang