Liu He is back in DC today, best case outcome I can see is an agreement to delay the increased tariffs to keep talking for a specified period of time, but clearly the US side is ready to pull the trigger in just about 12 hours, and if that happens there are few brakes to keep the relationship from deteriorating rapidly.

I was on CNBC Squawk Box for about 5 minutes this morning talking about the trade deal. You can watch the clip here, my thoughts have not changed since a few hours ago.

Liu’s dinner with USTR head Robert Lighthizer tonight should be interesting, and perhaps one of the more important meals in US-China relations in a long time.

Thanks for reading.