Liu He visit renews cautious optimism of resolution to trade impasse

It's a tough time in the U.S.-China relationship. We must avoid a trade war, former U.S. Ambassador to China Locke said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other senior U.S. officials just ended their visit to Beijing. The bilateral talks on economic and trade issues made limited progress, with limited consensus in a few areas and an agreement to establish new mechanism to continue consultations.

China's central bank governor says that trade imbalance with the U.S. is a structural and long-term problem.

Americans also seek halt to Chinese government support for advanced technologies.

It is in the two countries’ fundamental interests to handle the issue in a rational manner, and avoid a lose-lose outcome.

The US took advantage of ZTE’s inability to find substitute suppliers and imposed the ban. It is not a simple punishment, but an attempt to deal a fatal blow to ZTE.

Many countries, not just the United States, are disadvantaged by China’s unfair trade practices. Rather than confront the challenge alone, the United States should work to address the problem as a team sport. Doing so would be more effective and less costly than hoping U.S.-China tit-for-tat tariffs do not do significant harm to American workers, but do lead to a change in China’s economic policies.

A stable and growing commercial relationship between the United States and China is essential to the well-being of the global economy. A smarter, more durable approach to the problems we confront would be for Washington and Beijing to make lists of all of their gripes, put them on the table, and see whether, and to what extent, they can be resolved.

Trade talks, not trade war.