Washington must be careful in assessing the possible impacts of the novel coronavirus outbreak -- particularly in the implemenation of the phase one trade deal. The U.S. needs to give China a certain degree of flexibility.

Made-In-China 2025 is China’s controversial agenda that could propel it to be the world’s leading nation in manufacturing. While the plan was formally withdrawn after receiving US backlash, Beijing may still be operating along that plan—just less transparently.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was set to become the world’s largest free trade agreement. But India’s withdrawal from it has thrown the negotiated trade bloc into imbalance and has underscored India’s qualms with China’s trade practices.

United States stretches reason past the breaking point as it applies pressure to the company. Britain is adopting the technology anyway, while Meng Wanzhou’s rights continue to be violated in Canada.

The road to trade peace is treacherous, especially since most of the obligations under phase one are one-sided and place China at a disadvantage. But tariffs are becoming less useful as leverage for the United States in the face of Chinese economic resilience.

Five years in the making, China’s new Foreign Investment Law has finally been put into effect. The ambiguous language of the law will prove beneficial to Chinese manufacturing as manufacturers that have recently experienced losses are given free rein to ameliorate their suffering industries.

While the Trump administration has been quick to celebrate the recently-signed Phase One trade deal between the US and China, the deal is not progress for Sino-US relations. Instead, the limited agreement simply secures US affirmation of Chinese plans that were already underway.

While the US-China trade war has reached a milestone with the signing of the Phase One deal, many fear that the negative economic impacts of the original tariffs will go unnoticed.

The Phase One Agreement between China and the U.S. on their trade dispute was signed in Washington, D.C. on 15th January, sealing a temporary truce in their trade war, which had already lasted almost two years. This is a most welcome development, not only for China and the U.S., but also for the rest of the world. It is expected to usher in a period of relative calm and stability as well as reduced uncertainty and unpredictability, which should in turn increase both investment and consumption globally, and result in higher rates of economic growth.

The phase one deal has put the brakes on souring relations, but it may not reflect any clear winner. One benefit, however, is the easing of uncertainty.