Mohamed A. El-Erian , Columnist

G-20 Gives Markets a Short-Term Win

China and the U.S. reached an agreement to freeze trade tariffs for three months. But that’s about it.

December 2, 2018 at 11:11 PM UTC

Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief executive officer of Pimco, he is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge; chief economic adviser at Allianz SE; and chair of Gramercy Fund Management. He is author of “The Only Game in Town.”

Anti-climactic.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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The G-20 Summit in Argentina ended without fireworks involving the U.S., which was appropriate in a way, given the pall cast by the death of President George H.W. Bush.

The U.S. went along with a watered-down communique rather than stand in the way of a consensus, as it recently did at the APEC summit and the G-7. And rather than ending the meeting with a dramatic breakthrough or a loud breakdown, America reached an agreement to freeze trade tariffs with China that went somewhat beyond the one it reached with the Europe Union in July. Both deals require steadfast and detailed follow-through if the gains are to prove more than just temporary.