February 11, 2020 – On January 15, 2020,
the United States and the People's Republic of China
("PRC") signed a self-described "Phase One" Economic and Trade
Agreement to address a number of complaints raised by the
United States against China involving the bilateral U.S. –
China trade and economic relationship. The Agreement will come into
force on February 14, 2020. A Fact Sheet published by the Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative ("USTR") describes the principal
features of the Agreement.
The Agreement covers a number of areas that have been
long-running irritants to the United States in its trade and
economic relationship with China. These include, principally,
intellectual property protection for U.S. companies doing business
in China and technology transfer practices affecting U.S.
investment there; access to China's financial services market;
currency manipulation; structural barriers facing U.S. agricultural
exports to China; and the imbalance in the value
