Market discontented with U.S.-China trade deal holes — Braun

The market is unhappy with the U.S.-China trade deal conditions, Karen Braun, Global Agriculture Columnist at Thomson Reuters, writes on Twitter.

China will increase purchases of U.S. goods and services by USD 200 bln over two years in exchange for the rolling back of some tariffs under an initial trade deal signed by the two countries on Jan.15, 2020.

"I think it's important to carefully read that part to understand what is & isn't said. Chapter 6. No. 5 is interesting... It says market conditions may dictate the timing of purchases. Doesn't seem to specifically indicate that volume could also be affected," she notes.

As Karen Braun writes, the market saw the ag portion to have too many holes, and things are still unclear.

As a reminder, the centerpiece of the deal is a pledge by China to purchase at least an additional USD 200 bln worth of U.S. farm products and other goods and services over two years, above a baseline of USD 186 bln in purchases in 2017.