China

Despite an improving regulatory environment in China, U.S. companies in Shanghai are growing increasingly pessimistic about their business prospects due to an economic slowdown and rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China, according to a report issued this month by American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

China has proposed new language on electronic commerce in negotiations at the World Trade Organization, suggesting that members be prevented from limiting or blocking trade in information and communications technology equipment and products -- a proposal that comes after the U.S. imposed such restrictions on Chinese telecom company Huawei.

At the UN, Trump maintains that China is clamoring to strike a deal with the U.S.

The European Union last week rebutted several arguments the U.S. has advanced to defend its Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, contending in Geneva that they undermine the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system.

Products exempted include Christmas tree lighting, bicycles, dog leashes and plastic straws.

“The bilateral tariff measures introduced by the United States and China since the start of 2018 will continue to exert a significant drag on global activity and trade over the next two years, particularly given the additional uncertainty that they create.”

Trump: “I think there’ll be a deal maybe soon, maybe before the election, or one day after the election. And if it’s after the election, it’ll be a deal like you’ve never seen, it’ll be the greatest deal ever and China knows that. They think I’m going to win.”

Following President Trump’s “goodwill” gesture, U.S. and Chinese trade deputies will convene in Washington, DC, later this week ahead of planned high-level talks next month.