Afternoon Coffee: U.S., China sign initial trade deal; Amazon ends FedEx ban; Cleo updates solution; ‘50/50’ for 2020

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The U.S. and China on Wednesday signed phase one of a trade agreement that begins to curb a trade war in its second year.

President Donald Trump and China’s chief negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, signed the agreement in Washington.

The Associated Press said the deal eases some sanctions on China and frees up Chinese purchases of more U.S. agricultural goods, but the agency said “this agreement would do little to force China to make the major economic changes such as reducing unfair subsidies for its own companies that the Trump administration sought when it started the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018.”

Amazon ends ban on use of FedEx Ground

Amazon has lifted a ban that temporarily stopped some third-party sellers from using FedEx for shipping orders.

As of Tuesday afternoon, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home are again available as shipping options for Amazon Prime orders from third-party sellers, CNBC reported.

Cleo updates integration solution

Cleo, a provider of ecosystem integration solutions, has updated its Cleo Integration Cloud to help supply chains operate more efficiently.

Tom Jeffries, the director of Transportation Systems with Venture Logistics, said in a press release that “Cleo’s unique approach to integration provides more choice and control by combining both EDI and API integration capabilities on a single platform, as well as expert managed services support.”

For ‘50/50’ in 2020, update your Almanac listing

Be sure to add or update your company profile at Spend Matters Almanac by Feb. 7 to be considered for our 2020 “50 Providers to Know” and “50 Providers to Watch” lists.