After many weeks of back and forth sanctions on imports, China and the United States seem to have agreed to resume trade negotiations at the end of August. There was a series of trade talks earlier this summer but the agreements reached there quickly displeased President Trump and fell apart. Since then both the United States and China have lodged formal complaints before the World Trade Organization and have been exchanging reciprocal sanctions with each other.
However, the success of these future negotiations is doubtful. For one thing, this time around the talks will be led by officials of lower ranks, so it is not clear what they can guarantee to each other. Moreover, Trump is especially well-known for not keeping promises, so no agreement is set in stone as long as he is President.
Furthermore, even with the existing heavy tariffs the trade deficit of the United States with China continues. Trump’s sanctions against China haven’t had the impact his administration expected, so it is unclear what leverage the US will have in order to negotiate reforms in China, especially where the treatment of foreign intellectual property is concerned.
