CBS News reports: "Potential for a trade war with China is rising as President Donald Trump moves ahead with steel and aluminum tariffs, some analysts and economists warn. With the tariffs set to go into effect 15 days from now, Mr. Trump is also hinting at accelerating the U.S. investigation into intellectual property theft by China, America's biggest trading partner. "The U.S. is acting swiftly on Intellectual Property theft. We cannot allow this to happen as it has for many years!" Mr. Trump tweeted on Wednesday. In a meeting with his Cabinet before the metals tariff signing Thursday, the president said he reserves the right to change the figures and add and drop countries at will. Mr. Trump also suggested he wants to push "reciprocal" taxes with other nations."
Quartz reports: "Chinese president Xi Jinping has repeatedly told the world that China is ready to lead on issues like free trade and climate change. Now, he's ready to extend his leadership to political parties everywhere. At the big annual gathering of Chinese lawmakers and political advisors that kicked off March 3, Xi said that China is offering a "new type of political party system"—a Chinese solution that contributes to the development of political parties around the world, according to state media. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has always said the country will never copy the political systems of other countries, in particular the Western notion of democracy. But under Xi—the most powerful Chinese leader in four decades—China's own one-party system is one that is ready to be exported to regimes everywhere."
CNBC reports: "It's about time China removes some of its protectionist practices now that the country has grown richer. But the U.S. alone cannot make Beijing back down, a free trade advocate said Friday. "I think it's definitely worthwhile going to China now and say 'look, you're a lot wealthier, you need to take on more obligations, you need to rein in on your practices,' The question is how to do it," Simon Lester, a trade policy analyst at the Cato Institute, told CNBC... China became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001 after many years of negotiation, but Lester said the country was "let off the hook in terms of making strong commitments" because it was poorer back then."