China bought none of the $200 billion it promised from the U.S. under ‘Phase 1’ trade deal, study reveals

Authored by marketwatch.com and submitted by anon902503
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Even on the day two years ago that the trade deal was inked, there was skepticism that China would live up to its pledge to spend $200 billion more on U.S. goods and services.

But a new study finds China didn’t even spend an additional dime on U.S. products.

Capitol Report (June 2020): Trump asked China’s Xi to buy U.S. farm products to help him win re-election, Bolton book says

Also see (June 2020): Bolton book adds urgency to Trump bid to depict himself as a China hawk and to paint Biden as a Beijing apologist

Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics examined the so-called Phase 1 agreement inked during the administration of former President Donald Trump.

China agreed to buy at least $227.9 billion of U.S. exports in 2020 and $274.5 billion in 2021, for a total of $502.4 billion over the pact’s two years, he noted. In reality: U.S. exports of covered goods and services to China over the two years totaled $288.8 billion.

There were many reasons for this failure. The trade war that preceded the trade pact, finalized in January 2020, meant that U.S. goods exporters started in a hole, Bown said.

Another reason for the failure was the fatal crash of two Boeing BA, +1.34% jets, which led the U.S. airplane maker to halt 737 Max production and led China to cancel orders.

Also see (January 2022): Boeing stock gains after $1.4 billion order from China Airlines

The pandemic was another big factor, as it slammed services exports, as well as travel and education. Financial-services exports and charges for intellectual property were down slightly in 2020, though Bown said they may improve over the longer term.

U.S. agricultural exports, which were politically significant, did recover from the trade war but also fell shy of commitments under the deal, Bown said.

Bown conceded that the deal wasn’t a total washout. “The deal did halt his spiraling trade war. And several of its elements should be kept, notably China’s commitments to remove technical barriers to U.S. farm exports, respect intellectual property, and open up its financial services sector,” he said. But the main lesson of the phase one agreement, according to Bown, was that different terms for the trade relationship are still needed.

Opinion: Trump negotiated a bad trade deal that Biden perplexingly continues

Hanzo_The_Ninja on February 10th, 2022 at 23:06 UTC »

I can't say I'm surprised. The majority of the Phase 1 deal was about allowing US investors greater access to the Chinese markets, with the promised trade being a secondary addition. And I don't think China actually wanted either of those things, they signed the agreement to gain favor from the US on other issues.

rvexxousea on February 10th, 2022 at 23:04 UTC »

For the people that didn't read the article.

"There were many reasons for this failure. The trade war that preceded the trade pact, finalized in January 2020, meant that U.S. goods exporters started in a hole, Bown said."

"Another reason for the failure was the fatal crash of two Boeing BA, +1.34% jets, which led the U.S. airplane maker to halt 737 Max production and led China to cancel orders."

"The pandemic was another big factor, as it slammed services exports, as well as travel and education."

BeltfedOne on February 10th, 2022 at 22:45 UTC »

"The Art of the Deal"