Pimco Says a ‘Comprehensive’ U.S.-China Deal Is Still Far Off

(Bloomberg) -- Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Nicola Mai isn’t holding his breath for U.S. and Chinese officials to resolve their differences and pass a sweeping trade agreement.

While he expects a limited deal that stops a further escalation of trade tension, a more substantial truce doesn’t yet seem to be in the cards, Mai, a London-based sovereign credit analyst and portfolio manager, told Bloomberg TV on Thursday.

“To find a more comprehensive deal, you need to deal with more significant issues like technology transfer and intellectual property,” he said. “It looks like we’re still far from that.”

Trade woes are weighing on China’s already sluggish growth, which makes a deal in the nation’s best interest, according to Mai. Structural factors such as de-leveraging and a change of its economic model also put growth under pressure and may encourage the government to approach a pact with the U.S., he said.

In the U.S., meantime, data may also signal a weaker economy as the year’s end approaches, meaning the Federal Reserve may actually have further room to reduce rates, he said.

--With assistance from Tom Keene and Francine Lacqua.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sydney Maki in New York at smaki8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Carolina Wilson at cwilson166@bloomberg.net, Alec D.B. McCabe

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