We are seeing headlines from time to time pertaining to the world’s trade agreements.
Today, a piece from Bloomberg gave news of the UK’s intentions ”to prioritize depth rather than speed in completing work on a free-trade agreement with the US, the nation’s ambassador said.”
Karen Pierce, the UK ambassador in Washington said, “we don’t want to get it done just for the sake of getting it done. We want a comprehensive deal rather than a quick one.”
Indeed, while this takes a backseat to the US and China trade conflict, markets are in anticipation of headlines coming through more regularly in this regard as the Biden administration gets lots feet firmly under the desk in the White House.
The prior president Donald Trump’s slash-and-burn rhetoric against China may continue to have ramifications for the relationship into the new administration.
Trump made hostility toward China a centrepiece of his “America First” trade agenda when he sparked up a bitter trade war between the nations
Although President Joe Biden will likely set a more polite tone, he can ill afford to ease off on China.
The inflammatory rhetoric that President Trump used when on the attack make sit very hard the new administration to immediately come in and change course.
To date, the coronavirus has taken the front pages and markets have been preoccupied with that.
However, as the virus eventually fades further from view, the growth of the US and China’s economies will be front and centre as the race to be the world’s superpower part deux continues.
The new Biden administration is going to have the same complaints about the trading relationship with China as the previous administration did.
“China is clearly our most important strategic competitor,” Janet Yellen, Biden’snominee for Treasury secretary, said.
Yellen said the US would seek to work “with our allies rather than unilaterally” to address the issues toward China. That could be read as a reference to the China tariffs, which Trump imposed unilaterally.
We have already seen Biden’s first play on trade when he reinstated tariffs on aluminium exported from the United Arab Emirates last week, reversing Trump’s decision to lift them on his last day in office.
Meanwhile, both the US and China are expected to emerge as the strongest nations following the global recessions.
China said last month that Gross Domestic Product increased by 6.5% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter and by 2.3% for all of last year.
The nation is likely to be the only major economy to report economic growth in 2020.
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