Does the Phase One China Deal Measure Up? Depends on How You Measure | Center for Strategic and International Studies

Does the Phase One China Deal Measure Up? Depends on How You Measure | Center for Strategic and International Studies: The United States has been conducting a highly disruptive experiment in its trade negotiations with China and the waves of tariffs imposed over the past 18 months. With a “Phase One” deal now signed, we need to clarify what this experiment aims to achieve to understand what constitutes success. This is not as easy as it seems, since at least three divergent metrics could be used to measure success. Ironically, the deal may look the strongest using the negotiating metric employed by past U.S. administrations and strongly rejected by the Trump administration.