CEASEFIRE?

Trump Asks Cabinet to Draft Potential China Trade Deal, Says Report

Follows “extremely positive” call between Trump and Xi.

The trade war between the world’s two biggest economies could be drawing to a close after Donald Trump reportedly asked his Cabinet to start drafting potential terms for a trade deal between the U.S. and China. The move, reported by Bloomberg News, followed a phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jingping that Trump praised as “very good” and a Chinese ministry spokesman called “extremely positive.” Four unnamed officials said to be familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News that Trump ordered Cabinet secretaries to have their staff draw up a potential deal that would bring about a ceasefire in the trade conflict. The call between the two leaders was their first publicly disclosed conversation in six months. White House officials later played down reports they were drafting a trade deal, telling CNBC: “There is a long way to go.”

opinion

KNIFE TO THROAT

Chinese See ‘Trade War’ as Existential Fight—They’re Right

Gordon G. Chang