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The U.S.-China Trade Deal Means a Long Cold War for Business
The trade deal may seem like a reprieve, but the two countries are still locked in a collision course
With a new trade deal, the U.S. and China have agreed to stand down, but look for the war to go on, with the potential to rattle trade and markets across the globe for years and perhaps decades.
In announcements in the capitals of both countries, President Trump and a senior Chinese official retracted threats to impose new tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars in imports on Sunday. Trump cut some prior tariffs, and China will resume buying billions of dollars a year in U.S. farm products — actions that, if they are implemented, show that the two rivals can make a show of constructive negotiation.
The biggest U.S. winners are large agriculture and tech companies — especially Apple, which makes most of its iPhones in China. And Trump said the two sides will immediately begin negotiations for a second phase of a trade deal.
But the subtext to the sharp-edged, 19-month trade war remains in place — the rise of an economically and militarily powerful nation, threatening the global dominance of the existing superpower. The result is an inexorable, volatile brew as the United States escalates its…
