Trump Just Did Something Good on Trade

The mini-deal on U.S. trade with China announced by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross last week deserves a cautious welcome. It's narrow in scope, and the reasoning behind it, as related by Ross, is questionable at best, but it gets the main thing right: It expands rather than contracts the opportunities for mutually beneficial commerce. One can only hope that the rest of President Donald Trump's trade initiatives work out the same way.

The deal is described as the first installment of a wider effort to reform U.S.-China trade relations. If fully implemented, these initial measures will give U.S. producers better access to China's markets for natural gas, financial services and beef. In return, Chinese producers of cooked poultry will be allowed to export to the U.S. market, Chinese banks will get the same treatment from U.S. regulators as other foreign banks, and the U.S. won't discriminate against direct investment by Chinese entrepreneurs.