The latest escalation in US-China economic frictions points at worrisome trends. In the short run, US allies may benefit from US-China economic tensions, but serious dangers lie ahead.

Trade and economic ties were long the ballast in China-US ties — despite political disputes, the business community was in favor of warmer relations. Now the ballast threatens to turn into a stumbling block, as trade may be the sticking point preventing both nations from returning to a friendly stance, while exacerbating their superpower competition.

Huawei is airing its grievances and "taking to the media."

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.

China recently introduced new policies designed to open up its economy and increase the amount of foreign capital in the Chinese financial system. It sounds like a lot of effort is being put toward making China's financial sector more accessible, but is it, really?

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.

“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.

The days of guns, germs, and steel are over. Now, data, surveillance, and databases reign. The US should match Beijing’s long-term plans for AI and national intelligence goals if it is to remain a global economic and political leader.

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.