'America First' trade rows about to begin
The first China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington concluded on July 19, without a joint news conferences, joint statement or new announcements on market access by the United States to China or vice-versa, prompting many to assume the CED has paved the way to a major trade conflict between the two countries.
But despite tough political rhetoric, economic realities do not seem to support such a view.
A more nuanced scenario is that, while the Donald Trump administration was willing to penalize the Sino-US economic dialogue over slow progress in deficit reduction and perhaps the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's geopolitics, it also wanted to use the CED as a "demonstration effect" in the impending North America Free Trade Agreement talks and trade reviews - to signal determination.
