The trade negotiations between the United States and China just got even more complicated. After the past few weeks have failed to produce the long-promised phase-one agreement between the two warring parties, now the Hong Kong protests are becoming an issue once more.
The US government passed a new bill that makes reaching a trade deal with China conditional upon a peaceful handling of the pro-democracy protests that have been going on in Hong Kong for months. There have been recent escalations and just this week China threatened Hong Kong again, after its court voted in favor of allowing protesters to wear masks, something China disapproves of.
China is notorious for demanding that other countries stay out of its political affairs. It is part of the reason why China does not like meddling into other countries’ domestic issues. The Chinese government has strongly criticized the US bill as a form of interference, further dimming the prospects of a trade deal getting signed soon.
The news has had a massive negative impact on stock markets around the world. Europe and Hong Kong already marked losses, while US stock indices are dropping even before the day’s official market opening.
Today we also expect the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s October policy meeting, as well as a report on oil reserves in the US later on in the day.
