U.S. President Donald Trump believes he is about to score yet another big win on trade, this time with China. Progress in talks with Beijing, he claims, has been so "substantial" that he's delayed a looming March 1 deadline and is likely headed for a summit with China's President Xi Jinping to finalize a long-awaited settlement.
This latest "win," however, is shaping up to be a typical Trump victory — much, much more smoke than fire. And the potential consequences could be costly: long-term damage to U.S. credibility with China and, more broadly, within the entire global economic order.
So far, Trump's negotiators appear to have made headway on large-scale Chinese purchases of American goods to narrow the trade deficit, some market-opening measures for U.S. companies, a pledge not to manipulate the yuan and perhaps better protection for U.S. intellectual property.