Does Trump want his trade war to end?

The president's rhetoric and actions don't seem to line up, unless maybe that's the point

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Carl Court/Getty Images, koksikoks/iStock, -slav-/iStock)

Is President Trump's trade war even supposed to end? Given how quickly the White House's latest deal with China popped onto the scene, and how quickly it seemed to melt into air, it's worth considering the answer might be "no."

Media outlets, policy observers, and investors were all aflutter on Friday when the White House announced a "phase one" agreement with China. In exchange for Trump dropping a planned tariff increase — from 25 percent to 30 percent on $250 billion worth of Chinese exports — China would double its annual agricultural purchases from America. The deal would also lay down some rules to open up China's domestic market to foreign investors, protect U.S. intellectual property, and limit the moves China could make to devalue its currency.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.