Conflicting talk from White House officials about "decoupling" the U.S. economy from China is running into a challenging reality: Chinese imports of U.S. goods are rising, investment by American companies into China continues, and markets are wary of separating the world's biggest economies.
U.S. President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro gave Asian markets a scare on Monday night by telling Fox News Channel that the U.S.-China trade deal was "over." U.S. stock futures dropped, the dollar rose, and volatility indices climbed.
Navarro quickly backtracked on Monday night, saying he was referring to a lack of trust between the United States and China over the coronavirus outbreak. Trump also quickly tweeted that the deal was intact.