Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk through the Myeongdong shopping district of Seoul at night, South Korea. (Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Delegations of dark-suited trade negotiators shuttling back-and-forth between Washington and Beijing seemed to hold the world economy’s fate in their hands last year. So when the U.S.-China phase-one trade deal was signed in mid-January, the path finally seemed clear for an acceleration in investment, trade, and global economic growth.