American farmers and the U.S. agriculture industry has taken a big hit since the US-China trade war began last year. With recent negotiations breaking down and little progress being made, American agriculture will have to brace for more trying times ahead.

Trump’s idiosyncratic “art of the deal” apparently means putting extreme pressure on your negotiating partner to force them to surrender — but the US approach is based on faulty Trumpian economic assumptions and a misread of China’s growth history, and will only backfire.

The U.S. Defense Department is seeking new federal funds to bolster domestic production of rare earth minerals and reduce dependence on China, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, amid mounting concern in Washington about Beijing’s role as a supplier.

A Chinese state TV anchor and a host from Fox Business, whose sparring over the U.S.-China trade war has been avidly followed on Chinese social media, brought their duel to the American cable network for what turned out to be a respectful encounter.

“When governments permit counterfeiting or copying of American products, it is stealing our future, and it is no longer free trade.” So said US President Ronald Reagan, commenting on Japan after the Plaza Accord was concluded in September 1985. Today resembles, in many respects, a remake of this 1980s movie, but with a reality-television star replacing a Hollywood film star in the presidential leading role – and with a new villain in place of Japan.

US overreach in the ongoing trade talks has resulted in the failure to reach an agreement. Not only has the US bullied China on the bilateral trade deficit in commodities (based on President Trump’s irrational economic views), but it has overlooked the real harms that tariffs will do to US firms and consumers.

The China-US trade war has turned into a “tech war,” with the US aiming to block Huawei from building global 5G networks. Proposals from the recent Prague conference reflect US efforts to reassert its tech dominance by getting allies to follow its lead. But with Trump’s “America First” attitude undermining the moral basis of American leadership, and US innovation lagging, protectionist bullying will not provide a firm foundation for hegemony.

A senior U.S. State Department official’s inflammatory comments about a “Clash of Civilizations” reignited debate about how to view history and differing cultures. The Conference on Asian Civilizations Dialogue, hosted in Beijing this May, offered a more level-headed and equitable path to understand civilizational differences.

The escalation of trade tension between China and the U.S. increase downside risks for both China and the U.S., it will create a lot of uncertainty, said Zhu Haibin, Chief China Economist and Head of China Equity Strategy of J.P. Morgan.

“They would like to make a deal. We’re not ready to make a deal.”