Fred Imbert and Sam Meredith for CNBC:
U.S. stock index futures fell Monday after Bloomberg reported China said it needed to have further discussions before it would sign off on the so-called phase one trade deal U.S. President Donald Trump touted on Friday.
The report, which cites people familiar with the matter, said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He may lead a delegation as soon as month’s end to iron out the details of “phase one” before President Xi Jinping agrees to it. China wants Trump to also scrap a planned tariff hike in December in addition to the hike scheduled for this week, the report added…
The partial deal — which covers agriculture, currency and some aspects of intellectual property protections — represents the first step forward to end the trade war in 15 months.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, further talks will cement the details all allow the pact to get written and signed so that a greater degree of balance can be achieved between the U.S. and China.
I’m cognizant that in both the U.S. and China, there have been cases where everyone hasn’t benefited, where the benefit hasn’t been balanced. My belief is that one plus one equals three. The pie gets larger, working together. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, March 24, 2018
The United States is insisting that all countries that have placed artificial Trade Barriers and Tariffs on goods going into their country, remove those Barriers & Tariffs or be met with more than Reciprocity by the U.S.A. Trade must be fair and no longer a one way street!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
At least half of the popular fallacies about economics come from assuming that economic activity is a zero-sum game, in which what is gained by someone is lost by someone else. But transactions would not continue unless both sides gained, whether in international trade, employment, or renting an apartment. — Thomas Sowell, June 14, 2006