As RAND points out, government subsidization of aircraft manufacturers is a conflict between Boeing and Airbus that the U.S. and E.U. have yet to resolve. If they do not establish norms now, there will be little recourse against generous Chinese governmental support of its aerospace industry in the coming years.

The use of tariffs to address the United States’ trade imbalance with key trade partners will hamper longstanding U.S. economic leadership. For the U.S., addressing the trade imbalance and reviving U.S. manufacturing should not come at the expense of disrupting the established economic trade order and heightening perceptions of American exceptionalism among U.S. allies.

With a 3 month window, if the two countries can engage in meaningful talks, a deal is still possible, and a trade war can be kept at bay.

US manufacturing job losses as a result of technological advances is inevitable, but China and America can manage the resulting hardship together.

To figure out what will change under a different framework for leadership succession, it is important to cut through the authorities’ opaque rhetoric – the “moderately well-off society” transitioning into the “new era” – and stress-test their basic development strategy.

The Section 232 measure is a highly unconventional and controversial one to restrain imports on the basis of their detrimental impact on U.S. national security. Worse, its employment against foreign trade partners, including China, is likely to be the first volley in an increasingly torrid summer of lethal trade pyrotechnics. The worst is yet to come.

Trump’s trade belligerence is damaging the house America built.

Are trade wars easy to win and is Trump both willing and capable of escalating the conflict with Beijing to an all-out trade war, hoping that China will sooner or later capitulate?

How China and the US avoid a tit for tat exchange and explore a new basis of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation through negotiations is particularly urgent.

Trump is shooting himself in the foot.