While there’s plenty of other business afoot in D.C. these days, it also happens to have been a pretty big week for trade deals. A day after Phase One with China was inked, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a revised NAFTA—now officially the USMCA—which will get final executive approval next week – NYTimes and WSJ and Law360

Speaking of trade deals, the Journal looks at how Phase One carries with it the potential of upending “the way trade disputes are settled globally” by moving away from binding arbitration and toward a system of negotiation rounds and tariffs – WSJ

Meanwhile, the Europeans are finding much cause for concern in the US/China pact, a “managed-trade deal” that the EU may attempt to challenge at the WTO – Bloomberg [and NYTimes]

For their part, stocks appeared far more interested with the trade dealing itself than with the other stuff and rose again across major U.S. indices on Thursday – NYTimes

Google joined tech peers Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft in the $1 Trillion club yesterday, with its market cap crossing that threshold for the first time—even as the company struggles with a recent tech backlash and corporate cultural issues plaguing much of Silicon Valley – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

German officials have raided the homes and offices of three people “suspected of spying for the Chinese government” as part of a “preliminary investigation” that coincides with increased debate among Germans over their country’s relationship with Huawei – NYTimes

Facebook has rather abruptly walked back from its “controversial” plans to sell ads in WhatsApp, disbanding the team tasked with finding ways to best integrate ads into the service. The quest to monetize the messaging service—which drove its creators to resign from Facebook over a year ago—remains elusive for Zuck & Co. – WSJ

Bayer is reportedly closing in on a deal to settle upwards of 75,000 claims related to allegations that its Roundup weed-killer product caused cancer in users – Bloomberg

New details are emerging about Comcast’s Peacock streaming service, including a multi-tiered pricing system that hopes to undercut rivals – WSJ and MarketWatch and NYTimes

Let’s try this again, shall we? After a rocky first round of suggestions, the White House is out with its next noms for the Federal Reserve: Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller – Bloomberg and NYTimes

Overzealous Frozen fans + a fed-up bunch of Austrians = welcome to scenic (and overrun) Hallstatt – NYTimes

Have a great weekend.