"Tariff Man" Trump appoints Lighthizer to lead talks with China; Xi's G-20 speech; Tax crackdown; IPR protections

There appears to be some confusion among President Trump’s advisors about what he and General Secretary Xi actually agreed to at the Saturday dinner. I had heard that none of Trump’s team knew exactly what Trump was going to do when they sat down with Xi and his team. The aftermath sure seems to support that…

President Trump made a very important decision in appointing USTR chief Lighthizer to lead the negotiations. Call him a hawk, or a realist, regardless he knows the issues cold and is unlikely to settle for a squishy deal, unless his boss does.

I believe at least some on the Chinese side are happy with Lighthizer’s appointment, even though they know he is an incredibly competent hawk and negotiator. Mnuchin no longer has much credibility in Beijing given his inability to keep the deal Liu He thought they had struck in May and the Chinese also understand the Lighthizer needs to sign off any deal for it to have a chance, though so long as Trump had not specifically named Lighthizer a…