White House Admits China Has Yet to Budge on ‘Unfair Trade’

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 23, 2018:

Trump gives himself an ‘A-plus,’ but leaves Beijing’s trade tactics off achievement list

China and U.S. flags were displayed in front of the portrait of China’s late Communist leader Mao Zedong during President Trump’s 2017 visit there. Credit: Lintao Zhang, Getty Images file photo

The White House has tried threats and bluster, then imposed controversial tariffs. Congress even did something rare, passing a bipartisan bill. But despite President Donald Trump’s and lawmakers’ efforts, China has yet to so much as blink on what Republicans and Democrats agree are its unjust trade practices, administration officials said Thursday.

The two U.S. political parties and Trump rarely find themselves in near-unanimous agreement. But when it comes to what they all see as China’s habit of stealing American technology and intellectual properties, playing games with its market and currency, and otherwise tipping the global trade scene to benefit its companies and economy, Washington is mostly unified.

The two parties and the president agree that legislation is needed to update the country’s immigration laws, but they have been unable to agree on the specifics of an overhaul bill. The same is true of other issues, with agreement that changes are needed but wide chasms on the specific remedies.