Despite the tensions between the two nations in both economic and geopolitical arenas, Washington and Beijing have generally recognized the mutual benefits of trade. This form of “controlled tension” has in the past been able to navigate the contours of various trade disputes. All that changed in 2016.

China’s Commerce Ministry has launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into American exports of sorghum, which is believed to be underpriced and damaging to Chinese farmers. This may result in the imposition of tariffs on sorghum imports from the U.S. The action appears to be retaliation against tariffs imposed by the U.S., and may result in a larger trade war.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it had made a final determination that imports of aluminum foil from China are being sold in the United States at less than their fair value and producers are benefiting from subsidies from Beijing.

Trump risks the US Dollar for a trade war with China.

Experts say he'll use background in economics and trade to calm waters.

President Xi Jinping's economic policy adviser Liu He will visit the U.S. from Feb 27 to March 3.

The US should cool it on China.

There are only two major pathways open: a continuation of relatively minor actions on both sides that nonetheless could spiral into a tit-for-tat trade war that no one wanted; or then a concerted effort on both sides to engage in negotiations.

China and the U.S. are two of the only nations in the world with sufficiently strong, stable domestic tech sectors that they can afford to block major overseas competitors without fear of significantly undercutting the services available to their own citizens. But if the Chinese government has been willing to let at least some foreign firms compete with its domestic champions in the tech sector, it’s not clear that the same is true of the U.S. government.

Chinese companies have become major targets of the CFIUS review process in recent years. This may continue or escalate if Congress passes the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act.