A yearlong U.S.-China trade war boiled over on Monday as Washington accused Beijing of manipulating its currency after China let the yuan drop to its lowest point in more than a decade.

President Trump has abruptly escalated the U.S.-China trade war.

Trump’s most recent memo to the WTO is the latest in a series of unilateral aggressions by the U.S. Given the relentless combativeness of the Trump Administration in global trade more broadly, the memo targeting WTO norms is unlikely to have any productive results.

Japan and the ROK face several obstacles on the road to reconciliation, not least of which is their deep historical tension. Japan is also now demonstrating that the U.S. isn’t the only player willing to use economic means to fight a political dispute.

What does China stand for on trade and other global issues - a primer for the U.S. negotiating team in trade talks with the Chinese.

The remaining gaps in the U.S.-China trade negotiations are harder to resolve because they reflect differing views on what is the ultimate game plan of the trade war.

U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods did not hurt Chinese global exports, which have been going strong with the EU and ASEAN. Further tariffs will only hurt the U.S. presence in China and the American economy, which relies on China trade.

With trade negotiations slated to begin in Shanghai next week, the U.S. and China teams appear to be adopting a tone of business- and market-friendliness. Businesses on both sides hope that the teams will leave derailing political chatter on the sidelines.

China’s bottom line remains that the U.S. must scrap all its existing and proposed tariffs. Not only would this measure signal good faith in the upcoming negotiations, but it would also rid the heated relations of their potential to devolve back into another all-out trade war.

Recent behavior by the US suggests it is not as intent on reaching a “fair deal” so much as it is buying time. Even if a short term agreement is reached, it is increasingly clear that this trade dispute is a prelude to a longer struggle between a multipolar and unipolar world order.