Lighthizer’s Post-Pandemic Outlook Sees More Decoupling From China

The coronavirus has changed so much in a short period of time that it’s easy to forget the Trump administration’s stated goal heading into the 2020 re-election year was a healthier integration of the U.S. and Chinese economies.

“We have an American system, and we have a Chinese system. And we’re trying to figure out a way to have these two become integrated,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the CBS News program “Face the Nation” in mid-December to mark the hand shake on a phase-one trade deal with China. “This is a first step in trying to integrate two very different systems to the benefit of both of us.”