Brexit and U.S.-China trade deal gain steam

Two sagas concerning world trade — Brexit and a U.S.-China trade deal — saw major developments that give clarity to months of uncertainty.

The UK election yesterday strengthened Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who for years has favored a UK exit from the European Union.

Phase one of Brexit could begin next month, the BBC reports, adding the Europe’s leaders are resigned to the UK leaving the EU and are preparing for difficult negotiations.

In the U.S. amid impeachment hearings over President Donald Trump, he said Friday that a preliminary deal on the 19-month-long U.S.-China trade has been reached, according to several news reports. The development could avert even more tariffs being imposed on goods from China that were to begin Sunday.

“Both sides have said before that they were on the verge of an agreement, only for the talks to collapse,” the New York Times reports. “The text of the agreement has not been finished, and it is unclear whether China has agreed to all of the details included in the plan.”

The Times reported that an adviser to the White House said this phase of the agreement doesn’t cover a major dispute in the negotiations — protecting U.S. intellectual property.

“The deal under consideration would not resolve all of Mr. Trump’s issues with China,” the Times said. “That includes China’s history of coercing technology away from American firms, as well as industrial policies that economists say have helped China dominate global industries like steel and solar panels and put American companies out of business.”

Those concerns would be addressed in subsequent negotiations after the 2020 election, according to the adviser — Michael Pillsbury, a China scholar at the Hudson Institute, who said he had spoken to the president Thursday afternoon about the agreement, the Times reports.

China said today that it supports the deal, CNBC reports.

More details from the Trump administration were expected today.