Wall Street wants a quick end to the trade war. Businesses on both ends of the trade equation want a quick end to the trade war. But a trade deal won’t be reached and sealed any time soon, as it was with Canada and Mexico. The politics and the context of the two trade disputes are much different.

That’s according to William Hunt, senior portfolio manager at HS Capital Bank.

“The negotiations with China differ from those with Canada,” says Hunt.

“First, there’s no deal on the table and negotiators have been struggling to make headway.The scope of negotiations is much wider and addresses core Chinese industrial policies and envisions sweeping safeguards.”

Then, there’s the political landscape. “There is growing bi-partisan support for a tougher stance on China,” adds Gott. “If Trump were to be seen as soft on China, Democrats are likely to use that against him. Republicans are also unified in a hard stance against what is increasingly seen as a threat to the US. There is no such bi-partisan agreement against Canada and Mexico.”

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