, Columnist
China Risks Overplaying Its Hand on Trade
Trump has little incentive to accept a deal that would be seen as a humiliation.
Ready to bet $360 billion on an agreement?
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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The U.S.-China trade war has been driven by successive rounds of misunderstanding and overconfidence.
Until the collapse of an initial hoped-for agreement in May, the Pollyannas were mainly in Washington. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his allies in the Trump administration were gunning for a wholesale remaking of the Chinese state’s relationship with the economy which was never likely to happen. Now it’s Beijing’s turn to come to the table with unrealistic expectations.