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Don’t think that the trade war is going away

President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China struck a deal on Saturday evening to ease trade tensions between their two countries. Global markets breathed a sigh of relief, with U.S. stock futures rising significantly — but there’s plenty of negotiating left to do, and little sign yet that meaningful progress can be made.

What happened: Over dinner at the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires (on the menu: grilled sirloin and seasonal vegetable salad), Mr. Trump agreed that the U.S. would hold off on raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods to 25 percent from a current level of 10 percent. Mr. Xi said China would lower levies on U.S. car imports, Mr. Trump tweeted.

Why it happened: The two sides recognized that they were both suffering from a prolonged trade battle. China’s economy has slowed more than expected, partly because of the tariffs, and U.S. businesses and stocks have been hurting from the uncertainty. Tyler Cowen of Bloomberg Opinion argues that Mr. Trump deserves some real credit for forcing action on many of the long-running disputes between the two countries.

What could go wrong: China might not follow through on promises to toughen protections for intellectual property and to further open its markets. Hard-liners in the Trump administration may derail negotiations. And experts are skeptical that fruitful progress can be made by a March 1 deadline.