CHINA/ECONOMY/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After President Donald Trump helped send markets tanking by feeding doubts about his trade deal with China, he stepped in Wednesday [12-5-18] to pump up optimism in a series of early-morning tweets. The US President cited ‘very strong signals’ overnight from Beijing, including recognition of a 90-day clock for talks — a key point that had been omitted in readouts from Beijing after Trump’s Saturday [12-1-18] night dinner meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce also reaffirmed Beijing’s pledge to ‘implementing already-agreed-on specific points as quickly as possible.’ It was welcome news for the American president after Tuesday’s [12-4-18] nearly 800-point slip on Wall Street — Trump’s favorite economic indicator. Trump himself set off investor jitters with a series of Twitter posts Tuesday, issuing renewed threats to hike import duties if a deal isn’t reached. ‘I am a Tariff Man,’ the President wrote. Late Tuesday evening, he stepped in to reassure investors a deal with Beijing would happen ‘either now or into the future’ after his top economic advisers spent the day attempting to do damage control in a series of appearances at a Wall Street Journal conference in Washington and on business news programs.”
–Donna Borak, “Trump changes his tone on China deal after market slide,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 5, 2018 11:38 pm