On Monday, the US and China were “a little bit ahead of schedule” on agreeing to the terms for a “Phase One” trade deal to be signed at APEC in Chile next month.
In fact, the two sides were “probably a lot ahead of schedule”, Donald Trump told reporters.
Fast forward to Tuesday and guess what? The “interim” agreement might not be ready for game time after all. That’s according to a US administration official who spoke to Reuters.
Read more: Trump Catapults S&P To Record High With Trade Remarks
“If it’s not signed in Chile, that doesn’t mean that it falls apart. It just means that it’s not ready”, the person said.
Right. Of course, it also likely means that the terms of the agreement weren’t really defined earlier this month when Trump announced the “deal” alongside Vice Premier Liu He at the White House.
At the time, more than a few analysts and commentators suggested that in reality, nothing had been decided during principal-level trade talks in Washington. If true, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, just days before the narrative turned rosy catalyzing a sharp run-up in US stocks, equity futures plunged on an SCMP report that no progress was made during deputy-level discussions. Somehow, the negotiations went from “no progress” to “Phase One deal” in the space of 48 hours.
Since then, efforts on the part of Trump officials to convince a skeptical market that there’s real substance to what the president announced earlier this month have fallen on deaf ears. That’s not to say that the administration hasn’t succeeded in juicing stocks – it’s just to suggest that record highs on equities notwithstanding, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone willing to say that something groundbreaking was accomplished in D.C. on October 11.
In any event, the same official who told Reuters the deal might not be inked at APEC also reiterated that “Our goal is to sign it in Chile”.
He (or she) then produced a pair of additional soundbites which underscored the inherent silliness of this whole charade. To wit:
But sometimes texts aren’t ready. But good progress is being made and we expect to sign the agreement in Chile.
So the deal may not be signed in Chile. But then again, it could be. It probably will be. Unless it’s not ready. In which case it won’t be. Unless it is.
The “art of the deal” in full effect.
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“But sometimes texts aren’t ready”. Yes those damn pesky texts details. Texts can be hard, especially if your driving.