The first round of trade talks between the U.S. and China ahead of a Mar. 1 deadline appear to have covered both the economic policy and trade deficit issues required by the U.S. The terse statements from each side – 180 words from the U.S., 74 from China – would suggest final agreements are still some way off though. The U.S. remains focused on cutting the “persistent trade deficit” with China. Cutting it in a meaningful way will prove difficult. While U.S. imports will fall simply as a result due to an end of pre-tariff inventory build, each 25% cut in the U.S. trade deficit would requ...