Toward the end of a week during which global markets were pummeled by a sudden worsening in the prospects for a trade agreement between China and the US, President Trump announced two positive developments in US trade relations with our allies. The first was a decision to defer for six months a scheduled imposition of tariffs on cars and car parts from the European Union ((EU)), Japan and South Korea. This was clearly a "punt," not the resolution of a very difficult trade dispute. The second development does, however, represent the settlement of an important