The US bill that requires China to handle the protests in Hong Kong peacefully in order to secure a trade deal continues to be problematic. The Chinese government has spoken quite harshly of it, saying it would exact “revenge” upon the United States if the law is implemented.
Moreover, Donald Trump said that the Chinese are not opening up during the negotiations to the extent the US trade team expects, making a compromise almost impossible to reach. So, despite the President’s comments as early as October this year that he has a ready deal with China, the agreement remains in question and might not be signed in 2019, if at all.
Besides the issue with China, Trump is currently preoccupied with the proceedings in the impeachment hearings, which recently went public. Yesterday, the Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland (who reportedly got the position after donating to the Trump campaign) shared some pretty damning things with the impeachment committee, including that Trump ordered him to push Ukraine to start an investigation into the Bidens.
The hearings will continue today, but already there seems to be a ton of evidence against the President. However, the Senate might still exonerate him, if the Republicans decide to ignore the evidence and support Trump in spite of it.
Today we also expect the US jobless claims, which are supposed to show a decrease, as well as the minutes from the ECB’s last policy meeting.
