Commentary On the matter of China-U.S. trade, there is one item of bad news and two of good news. The bad news is that China has failed to meet its commitments under the first phase of the trade agreement signed in January 2020. This is hardly a surprise to anyone who has followed the data, but it is now official. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi recently announced that the failure is “clear.” One piece of good news is that the tariffs the Trump White House imposed in 2019 remain in place to pressure China into further efforts at compliance. The other piece of good news is that the two countries continue to talk about next steps to foster, in Bianchi’s words, a “stable [trade] relationship between the two countries.” The first phase of the U.S.-China trade agreement itemized all the major points of disagreement between the two countries but …