The US and China appear to be making progress towards finalizing the “Phase 1” trade deal, as confirmed by recent comments from the US Trade Representative’s office and China’s Ministry of Commerce. The partial trade deal was confirmed by US President Donald Trump after the high level trade talks in Washington earlier this month.

Expectations are high that the deal will be finalized and signed by the presidents of the two nations on the sidelines of the APEC summit at Chile around mid-November. According to an official statement put out by the USTR office, “They made headway on specific issues and the two sides are close to finalizing some sections of the agreement. Discussions will go on continuously at the deputy level, and the principals will have another call in the near future.”

However, trade tensions between the two nations have not faded away completely as there are still key obstacles yet to be addressed. White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro is one such key official who remains skeptical of the progress and believes that the US should increase pressure on China to commit to IP protection before signing any trade deal.

Meanwhile, a section of US businesses also remain unconvinced that signing a partial trade deal would mark some progress in the US-China trade war. These American companies worry that such a trade deal would only delay any possibility of complete resolution of all issues that caused the trade war to flare up in the first place.