White House touts farm sales to China, but analysts cast doubt on the figures (South China Morning Post)

South China Morning Post published an article that White House claims regarding the US-China trade agreements appear designed to appeal to a key US voting bloc just days before the presidential election. Independent analysis shows that China is well off from the agreed upon purchase, “slightly over 50 percent of the way toward the year-to-date targets” and below the 71 percent number claimed by the administration. The difference between the analysis and the Trump administration’s reckoning is that the administration added in purchasing predictions and projections that have no guarantees. Senior Research Fellow David Laborde agreed, questioning the superlative used in the Trump administration’s report.” The methodology is ‘the best’ to get the results desired, not to actually check if the agreement has been implemented as written in black and white.” (Reach 1.5M) Republished in The Street.