Back from the brink

The U.S. and China have reached a “phase-one” trade agreement. From the perspective of overall U.S.-China relations, this is well worth celebrating. A deal—any deal—takes the world’s two largest economies back from the cliff’s edge.

In purely trade terms, though, this is anything but the huge trade deal President Donald Trump touted on social media. Reducing existing U.S. tariffs may boost growth prospects in both countries next year, but it doesn’t remove the uncertainty that’s undermined business confidence.