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Trump, Xi Each Find Victory in Trade Deal

Si Yang

   After 18 months of a tit-for-tat tariff-driven trade war, China and the
   United States have emerged with a truce in the form of the first phase
   of a trade deal, and a victory for both sides.

   Conversations among business leaders at the World Economic Forum Annual
   Meeting in Davos, Switzerland suggested there may not be a phase two of
   the deal until after the U.S. election in November, echoing what
   President Donald Trump said before phase one was signed.

   Yet [1]that agreement, signed January 15, offers the prospect of some
   economic stability, a win for Trump and a win China's President Xi
   Jinping.

   Even before a new coronavirus reached crises levels in China, Xi was
   facing a slowing economy, which was not helped by the trade war, a
   persistent pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, and the[2] embarrassing
   reelection of Taiwan's anti-Beijing president, Tsai Ing-Wen, on January
   11. Beijing considers Taiwan an island province---Xi has called
   reunification "inevitable"---but the Republic of China, as it is
   officially known, has been separate from the People's Republic of China
   since 1949. Taiwan has its own government democratically elected by
   citizens increasingly wary of China's growing rising authoritarianism.

   For Trump, the trade truce offers a distraction from a Senate
   impeachment trial. He was trumpeting the deal even before it was
   signed, telling a Lake Charles, Louisiana rally on October 11 that
   farmers would need more land and bigger tractors to cope with demand
   from China.

References

   1. https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/agreements/phase%20one%20agreement/Economic_And_Trade_Agreement_Between_The_United_States_And_China_Text.pdf
   2. https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/china-relations-stumble-after-beijing-skeptic-wins-re-election-taiwan

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