In the US-China trade deal of January 2020, China agreed to purchase US$200 billion worth of additional US-made products and services by the end of 2021, using 2017 as the base year. China committed to buy a record amount from the US The deal was spearheaded by the Trump administration and touted as a major breakthrough by Trump and his supporters. Trump praised the deal and called Chinese President Xi Jinping his “very, very, good friend”. Having followed China’s international diplomatic and trade policies for 30 years, I was skeptical at the time that it would abide by the terms…