Round One of Detail-Skinny Trade Deal
12/17/2019
Details unveiled in recent days of the Phase One trade agreement between the United States and China appear to indicate the Administration achieved a number of its primary objectives. However, the actual information details contained in the 86-page agreement remain secret. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer did give a press briefing and provided the media with a two-page summary, but his take differed from the Chinese representatives who offered far fewer concrete points and sketchier details. There was an urgency to find common ground before last Sunday’s tariff escalation took effect, and in haste there seems to be some gaps in understanding between the two countries.
