Japanese prime minister says nation will use presidency of group of industrialized countries to push for changes.

Multilateral institutions, like the World Trade Organization, have become proxies for differing visions of the global order and international relations.

In the past two years, the Trump administration has started trade wars against China, its major trade partners, and security allies. In the absence of united opposition by advanced and emerging economies, the next target will be the World Trade Organization.

As President Trump seeks to ramp up pressure on China by implementing additional tariffs, he and his administration may find the constraints of international law and WTO procedures hard to circumvent. Washington should suspend its tariff threat, sit down with President Xi’s reform-minded team and press for the further liberalization of China’s foreign direct investment and intellectual property rights regimes.

U.S. policy-makers must recognize that the most productive path forward is not to maneuver into constant conflict with China but rather to concentrate on our own competitiveness, to restore a sense of national unity, and to re-emerge from the current political cycle as an example of an open market democracy that others are both willing and able to emulate.

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.

The United States, European Union and Japan vowed on Tuesday to work together to fight market-distorting trade practices and policies that have fueled excess production capacity, naming several key features of China’s economic system.

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.

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.

In warfare one seeks surrender, but in world affairs one seeks solutions.