Whilst Trump’s “America First” policy created the largest monthly budget surplus since 1968 (at $214 billion) in April this year and cut unemployment to below 4% for the first time since 2000, US credibility may have been permanently hurt.

What’s behind this changing relationship?

In the run up to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s planned visit to China next week to discuss “a framework” for a trade deal, how do the latest updates reflect Trump’s strategy and goals?

Any effort to impose a bilateral solution on a multilateral problem will backfire, with ominous consequences for American consumers.

China denied on Friday that it had offered a package to slash the U.S. trade deficit by up to $200 billion, hours after it dropped an anti-dumping probe into U.S. sorghum imports in a conciliatory gesture as top officials meet in Washington.

Can the US be as pragmatic as China?

China and the US are an important part of the global economy. China and the US can cooperate, but great effort and time will be needed for negotiations.

The ZTE crisis has shocked China by revealing its vulnerability to foreign countries in advanced technologies. Even though the U.S. is fully justified to punish a Chinese company for violating the rules, it should take into account that if it is perceived as exploiting China's dependence, it could face further difficulties in making progress in other fields, such as reducing China's market barriers.

How China and the U.S. can strike a new deal.

Chinese FDI transactions dropped by over a third in 2017 as Beijing imposed restrictions over outbound investment and Washington toughened screening of high-tech acquisitions.