China Refuses To Confirm Trade Deal As Local Media Stays Dead Silent

Markets are closed in Beijing, the workday is over, and there no official reports in local media of an actual trade deal, that is because, as we explained on Thursday night, the language of the deal will never be made public and there would be no signing event between President Trump and President Xi. One may ask if there is even a "deal"?

As the WSJ writes this morning, China indicated that a near-term trade agreement with the U.S. has yet to be completed despite President Trump’s signoff, highlighting the unpredictability of a negotiation process that has rattled global markets and businesses.

Trump on Thursday approved a so-called phase-one trade pact that will scale back existing tariffs on Chinese imports and eliminate new levies scheduled to take effect on Sunday, in exchange for a written pledge from Beijing to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of U.S. farm products, among other concessions.

While Mr. Trump was “upbeat and enthusiastic about this breakthrough,” in the words of Michael Pillsbury, an adviser to the president during the trade talks, the mood in Beijing has been decidedly more sober.

As noted above, none of China’s state-owned media outlets or economic agencies involved in the trade negotiations made any public statement on Friday about the deal which according to Trump was finalized.

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