The United States and China’s agreement on a Phase One trade deal came as a relief to those affected by the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies, but international trade lawyers are less optimistic about the deal’s enforcement and the next round of negotiation.
William Marshall, an international trade partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers-affliiated Tiang & Partners in Hong Kong, said in a LinkedIn post that the scale of the agreement is ambitious and “represents an important first step”. But he added that finalising the text and implementing some of the deal’s details will be difficult.
