‘Political conditions not conducive’ to big US-China deal, says Trump’s ex-trade adviser

“A grand bargain” on trade between the United States and China is unlikely to be achieved in “days, weeks or months”, said Clete Willems, partner at law firm Akin Gump. Willems was,until recently, deputy director of the National Economic Council, US President Donald Trump’s economic policy forum. Instead, Willems backs Trump’s new “phased” approach to achieving a trade deal with China, stating “the political conditions unfortunately are not conducive to the big deal right now”.