So! After all of the fussin’ and feudin’, it looks like the United States and China are gonna sign a trade agreement. What’s the deal with it?
Yes, what’s in this deal?
It would be a “phase one” agreement, as President Trump called it when it was first announced a few weeks ago, meaning it’s meant to be a precursor to a more substantive deal down the road. It would have China buy a big ol’ load of agricultural products (which would not coincidentally help Trump with voters in farm states), strengthen intellectual property protections for foreign firms operating in China, and oh so slightly open up the Chinese financial services market. The United States would refrain from enacting tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled to kick in in December, and roll back others.
