Although President Donald Trump appears to have changed his tune on China from all-out accusatory on the campaign trail to grumbling in the Oval Office, U.S.-China economic relations are at their most precarious in years. The issue of trade is a major stumbling block between the two nations.

Trump’s tax reform triumph brings its own set of risks to the recovering US economy.

Late last month, the Trump administration “self-initiated” antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of imports of aluminum sheet from China. Reactions from media, social media, and the Chinese government seem to suggest these measures are especially provocative, pushing Washington and Beijing even closer to the brink of a trade war. But there is a less dire interpretation to consider.

The U.S. Congress appears poised to pass major tax reform legislation before the end of 2017. There will be international spillover from these proposed changes.

There were great expectations in Canadian business circles that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to China would result in the announcement of the beginning of bilateral trade negotiations between the two countries. But it didn’t happen. Trudeau’s visit is being assessed in some quarters in Canada as a failure, but it is important to get the terms right before embarking on what will be a long and difficult negotiation.

China-experts and international commentators have their eyes and ears set on an important year-end economic conference happening in Beijing over the next few weeks.

During China’s President Xi Jinping most recent visit to the Latin American, he announced a renewed commitment to trade and investment throughout the Americas; by some accounts an estimated $250 billion in the next ten years. A project such as the proposed Nicaragua canal has raised critical questions about Chinese investments in Latin America.

The China model could lead to more varied views on what works and doesn’t in economic development.

Recently, the Trump administration notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the United States opposes granting China market economy status at the WTO, an opinion also supported by the European Union. Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, China should have graduated last year to market-economy status.

Recent studies have inspired headlines such as “China and U.S. ‘neck and neck’ in foreign assistance spending”. Contrasted against the Trump administration’s apparent contempt for longstanding American support for global development promotion, such headlines seem yet further evidence of China’s emergence as a leader of global economic governance and influence.