Grassley No Longer Optimistic About China Trade War's Resolution

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters July 16 that he's no longer making predictions about how or when the China-U.S. trade conflict might get resolved. In April, before the breakdown in talks, Grassley was cheering the progress the administration was making (see 1904100052). He said he had been expecting something to be signed in late May, and when the talks fell apart, "I thought we were at the 10-yard line getting an agreement." So now, he said, "I'm going to be very careful" about reacting to news about how things are going between negotiators. He said he heard the rumors that hawks in China are ascendant, and that an addition to the Chinese negotiating team bodes ill for an agreement, but then also saw commentators saying such pessimism is overblown. "I’m just going to take it a day at a time," he said.