China Backtracked on Almost All Aspects of US Trade Deal: Sources

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (1st R), U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (2nd R), and other U.S. officials meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (1st L), Central Bank Governor Yi Gang (2nd L), and other Chinese officials in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WASHINGTON/BEIJING—The diplomatic cable from Beijing arrived in Washington late on May 3, with systematic edits to a nearly 150-page draft trade agreement that would blow up months of negotiations between the world’s two largest economies, according to three U.S. government sources and three private sector sources briefed on the talks.

The document was riddled with reversals by China that undermined core U.S. demands, the sources told Reuters.