The trade agreement U.S. President Donald Trump signed with China less than four months ago has gone from a cornerstone of his re-election bid to a potential political liability as the pandemic sours the relationship between the world’s two biggest economies.
The phase-one pact, which took effect in mid-February, is falling short on a number of fronts, including Beijing’s promises of large agriculture and energy purchases. But the Trump administration so far has been hesitant to ramp up the pressure or back away from the deal altogether, even as the rhetoric on both sides heats up.
As the U.S. economy craters, the death toll from COVID-19 passes 67,000 and some 30 million Americans join the ranks of the unemployed, Trump now finds himself boxed in. Respond too forcefully amid a growing public outcry to punish China — with his favorite economic weapon of tariffs or other means — and he risks hurting consumers and businesses already facing the deepest recession since the 1930s.