ASSESSMENTS

The Trump Administration Reaches for a Trade Sledgehammer

Aug 2, 2017 | 23:58 GMT

The Trump administration will launch new investigations soon into China's trade and intellectual property practices.

The Trump administration is looking at pushing back on a long-criticized policy by China by launching investigations into Beijing's trade and intellectual property practices.

(Getty Images)

The Trump administration will launch new investigations soon into China's trade and intellectual property practices, underscoring how talks between the United States and China have broken down over U.S. expectations China would help rein in North Korea's nuclear program. With the 100-day action plan on trade that followed U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting in April with Chinese President Xi Jinping over and with North Korea still aggressively pursuing a fully functional and deliverable nuclear weapon, the White House already had signaled it no longer would be constrained when dealing with China before Trump tweeted July 29 that he was "very disappointed in China" for its inaction on North Korea. With comprehensive trade talks now frozen, the United States is pursuing far more aggressive measures [LINK: Invading China, One Trade Dispute at a Time] against China's economic policy — although it still retains the option to walk this pursuit back if...

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