Phase One was supposed to be signed this week
Trump and Xi were supposed to be at the APEC Summit in Chile earlier this week and Sunday was the day they were going to sign a trade deal.
Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that the meeting were cancelled because of domestic protests. It might have led to ugly scene because there is no way a deal was ever going to get done.
Now we have a report saying that talks could stretch into 2020 with both sides hung up on problems about IP, tech transfers, rolling back tariffs and agricultural purchases among other issues.
That's sent a shiver through markets. The S&P 500 is down 24 points and USD/JPY has fallen to 108.50 from 108.70.
The drop in stocks hardly puts a dent in the rally since early October when Trump started talking about a deal.
