This “deal” is relevant mostly in that it is an agreement between Trump and China not to further escalate the trade war before November
Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images President Trump has, predictably, been crowing about the preliminary agreement he signed with China on Wednesday. But is it, like so much else with this White House, more hype than substance? I spoke with business columnist Josh Barro to find out.
Beyond that, the deal does not address the long-standing disputes between the U.S. and China over trade, and it leaves in place almost all of the tariffs Trump has imposed. So it’s not a breakthrough. It’s yet another instance where Trump foments a problem, takes a step part of the way back from the problem, and then gets to say that he has fixed something.
Ben: But unlike that area, the tariffs on China do feel like a substantive break with past policy, and one that seems at least somewhat likely to linger even if he loses in November. If, say, Joe Biden won, do you see him doing a total 180 on this? The answer would probably be very different if Bernie Sanders is the next president.
Ben: If Trump wins again how difficult would these “phase two” details be to hammer out? They seem incredibly thorny — though the same could have been said of the NAFTA renegotiation, and, as you pointed out, the result was a largely cosmetic retouching that looked a whole lot like the original agreement, so things could go in that direction.
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