Economics

Economists Don’t See Any U.S. Growth Bump From U.S.-China Deal

Donald Trump, center, and Liu He, left, display the signed U.S.-China "phase-one" trade agreement during a ceremony in Washington on Jan. 15.Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Economists played down the prospect that the first phase of a trade deal signed this week by the U.S. and China will lift American economic growth in 2020, contradicting the optimism of the Trump administration.

The American Bankers Association’s Economic Advisory Committee-- a group of chief economists from large banks including Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley -- forecast gross domestic product growth would slow to 1.9% in 2019 and stay there in 2020. That’s well below the 2.5% pace floated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a Fox News interview on Sunday. A Bloomberg surveyBloomberg Terminal conducted earlier this month estimated the U.S. economy expanded 2.3% last year and will grow 1.8% this year.