Features of the development of Sino-American trade and economic tensions under the administration of D. Trump

Tszyan Junjing Postgraduate Student, Department of American Studies, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Sankt-Peterburg oblast', g. Saint Petersburg, ul. Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, 7-9 jiangjunjing@yandex.ru

Trade and economic relations between the United States and China span more than a decade. When analyzing the interaction between the two countries during this time, it can be noted that there were different periods in the trade and economic sphere: from close cooperation to serious crisis situations with mutual claims. In order to understand the essence of trade and economic contradictions between countries at the present stage, it is necessary to consider the relationship in the process of their formation.

The intensification of cooperation between the two countries has occurred since the establishment of bilateral agreements in 1979. According to Deng Xiaoping, "the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States created a favorable climate for Beijing - this is very important, in addition, it is also important for China's reforms and openness" ^[1]. Changes in trade and economic relations between the two countries were often conditioned by foreign policy and ideological objectives. Thus, the situation with the inclusion of Taiwan into the PRC was a controversial issue in political terms, which also affected the economic cooperation between the United States and China. After Washington recognized Taiwan as part of the PRC, there was an intensification of economic cooperation between the two countries, as a result of which a trade agreement between the PRC and the United States was signed in July 1979. This agreement stated that both China and the United States "undertake to take all necessary measures to ensure the most favorable conditions for strengthening all aspects of economic and trade relations between the two countries in order to promote the steady development of trade between them on a long-term basis" ^[22]. During Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States, he had a meeting with American President Jimmy Carter. The result of this meeting was that America provided China with economic loans and allowed China to open its bank branches ^[22].

Not only commercial interest, but also a foreign policy factor was decisive in the intensification of US-China cooperation in the 80s of the XX century. During this period, the United States and the Soviet Union were in the stage of the "cold war", so for America, the expansion of trade and economic ties with China was part of their strategic line. Since the 1980s of the last century and up to the first decade of the present century, China has attracted a significant amount of American investment. According to the most realistic estimates, the volume of accumulated direct American investments in China in the period 1979-2014 amounted to about $70 billion ^{[17, p. 54]}.

With industrial growth and economic development, China's foreign policy is also becoming more active – and the degree of its activity is directly correlated with the economic success of this state. Changes in the guiding foreign policy ideas of three generations of the CPC leadership (from the national policy of "Reform and Openness" under Deng Xiaoping, the policy of "Three Representative Offices" under Jiang Zemin and "Harmonious Peace" under Hu Jintao to the formation of the concept of the "Chinese Dream" under Xi Jinping) led to the fact that in the XXI century. China, though not explicitly, but consistently and methodically, declares its claims not only to the status of a significant participant in international relations, but even to the status of a leader in world politics ^[6].

The current stage of the Sino-American trade and economic thorns is determined by the increased influence of the PRC in the international arena in the early 2000s. An important stage in the international relations of the two countries was the entry of the PRC into the WTO in 2001. During this period, China managed to establish strong strategic partnership relations with many developing countries ^{[11, p. 102]}.

China's accession to the WTO in 2001 was a powerful impetus in the development of bilateral economic exchanges. The intensification of trade and economic relations after the removal of a significant share of barriers and restrictions, in turn, exacerbated a number of problems and imbalances in US-Chinese relations. As a result, over the past decade, trade and economic disputes between the parties have been regularly considered within the WTO. One of the key topics of US-China relations, which was put up for discussion by the WTO, is the problem of protecting the intellectual property rights (IPR) of American companies in China. It is estimated that in 2009 alone, the damage to the United States from the illegal use of copyrights by Chinese companies and from other IPR violations amounted to about $48 billion ^{[1, p. 205]}.

The increased economic independence of China and the desire of other countries to cooperate with it creates special difficulties in relations with the United States. Perhaps, during the entire period of cooperation between the countries, there have not been so many contradictions as in the last decade. China is accused of incomplete transition to a market economy, and, as a result, protectionism against its own enterprises. This circumstance, according to the Americans, contradicts fair market competition, and gives unreasonable advantages to Chinese campaigns.

As China has strengthened since the early 2000s, the leading position of the United States in the global economy has begun to weaken. The growth of external debt and unemployment, the deterioration of the situation of the middle class and the crisis in many industries have led to an increase in discontent with the former, liberal principles of trade in the country. One of the reasons for the emerging Sino-American tensions in the economy is an attempt to contain the rise of China by Washington ^{[16, p. 51]}. Because of this , the slogans of the US President D. Trump's proposals for the revival of national production, which he put at the forefront of his election program, were supported by representatives of the middle class and small businesses, residents of small towns, low-income segments of the population, as well as representatives of traditional industries (metallurgy, coal and chemical industries, mechanical engineering, construction). D. Trump's predecessors as president did not dare to wage an open trade war with China, fearing to damage the US economy. In particular, Barack Obama also used anti-Chinese slogans during the election campaign, but after coming to power he tried to pursue a less confrontational approach towards China. China was given an important place in the strategy of "turning to Asia" announced by the first Obama administration. Returning to Asia, the United States declared its intention to cooperate with Beijing in solving global and regional problems ^{[16, p. 50]}. The weakening of criticism against the PRC was also expected from Trump after his election victory, but this did not happen.

The US claims to China's economic policy cover various types of restrictions related to taxation, customs classification, protection of intellectual property rights, services, protection of domestic producers, as well as the export of goods. To some extent, China's complaints are retaliatory measures to similar actions by the United States: protective measures, including anti-dumping and countervailing duties, as well as restrictions on the import of agricultural products.

The claims put forward by Trump to the PRC are not new, but continue the line started by his predecessor. One of the key ideas in this direction was the promise to sharply increase import duties on Chinese goods. It should be noted that China reacted to Trump's election promises rather skeptically, trying to emphasize the mutually beneficial trade and economic relations between the two countries ^{[15, p. 179]}. The Americans focused their attention not on the benefits of partnership with China, but on the threats posed to them by the growing economic and political influence of the PRC. In the "US National Security Strategy 2017", China was named a country whose goals are to establish a world order based on values and interests opposed to American ones, and to restructure cooperation formats for its own benefit ^[23]. China was again accused of stealing American intellectual property worth hundreds of millions of dollars ^[10]. At the APEC summit in Da Nang in November 2017, D. Trump declared the undesirability of concluding new multilateral trade agreements and criticized the WTO. Xi Jinping, in turn, appeared as a defender of free trade, calling for a more balanced globalization process.^[7] Thus, with the coming to power of the D. Trump administration in the United States, tensions in the sphere of Sino-American relations began to increase. This crisis situation that has arisen between the two countries is caused by the opposite concepts of world development, which are adhered to by both sides. America stands for deglobalization. This is an act of limiting the further expansion of globalization. The policy in this area implements trade protectionism in the economy, strengthens financial supervision, restricts foreign investment and emphasizes "economic security"; applies nationalism, conservatism and xenophobia in politics and restricts immigration; and defends isolationism and unilateralism in foreign policy... To a large extent, the system of global governance is concentrated in Western countries, especially in the United States, which first of all should carry the banner of globalization. However, the paradox is that after Trump came to power, the United States lost interest in global affairs and gradually withdrew from one international organization after another. Trump has repeatedly stressed the need to build an independent and complete production chain to allow American companies to return. Trump's unilateral approach has seriously undermined the credibility of many international organizations.^[12] On the contrary, China stands for the continuation of globalization. China has always adhered to the basic principles of mutual benefit and mutually beneficial results and actively advocated international dialogue and cooperation.  He joined the WTO, formulated the "One Belt, One Road" strategy, participated in international organizations and actively expanded dialogue with other countries, created various free trade zones to expand trade cooperation opportunities. Encourage Chinese companies to enter the global market and promote the development of foreign companies in China. Some scientists regard this situation as an economic war between the two countries. ^{[5, p. 31]}

Trump started this trade war because of the trade deficit between China and the United States, but in fact, the trade deficit is only a cover for Trump, the deeper reasons behind this are worth exploring. Trump's strong "America First" policy aimed at curbing China's rapid technological development and efforts to prevent the implementation of the "Made in China 2025" goal is the most fundamental reason. After the reform and openness in China, its economy developed rapidly. China became the second largest economy in the world, and even slowly caught up with the United States in the fields of politics, economics and technology, which put America under unprecedented threat to its status as a world power. The rapid development of China's high-tech industry even caused panic in the United States and China, of course, became their strategic opponent.

The US traditionally has a significant foreign trade deficit: in 2018 it amounted to $621 billion, but the deficit in trade with China significantly exceeds the corresponding figure for other major US trading partners, such as Mexico, Germany, Japan ^{[15, p. 148]}. Many American economists, primarily responsible for the US foreign trade strategy, believe that such a deficit is the result of unfair trade policies and practices on the part of China. Others, however, believe that official data on the trade deficit with China create a distorted picture of bilateral relations, since they do not take into account the indirect supply of goods by US multinational corporations ^{[14, p. 24]}. Traditional trade statistics also do not fully reflect the value added created in each country and how it participates in foreign trade turnover.

The trade war was also widespread in the diplomatic, military, scientific, technical, cultural fields, in which almost all of them met resistance. In the diplomatic sphere, the United States wants to provoke conflicts between China and other countries and force ASEAN, Russia, India and other countries to enmity with China. In the military sphere, they view China as an imaginary enemy. Also, military provocations are constantly taking place in the north and south, the creation of a "military alliance of the United States, Japan and South Korea." In the scientific and technical sphere, the United States tried to unite with other countries in every way to suppress Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE. In the sphere of culture, Trump fabricated various accusations to close Confucius institutes opened in America.

The perception of China as a country that poses a threat to US security persists in the National Defense Strategy published in January 2018. China, along with Russia, is called a revisionist state, a rival of the United States, challenging American power, interests, and also seeking to undermine its security and prosperity. According to the latest results of a Pew Research Center survey, during the bilateral trade tensions between China and the United States, more than half of Americans have a negative attitude towards China, and more and more Americans consider China and Russia both the biggest threat to the United States.^[24]

Trade and economic tensions between China and the United States are diverse and complex. The main manifestation is the variety of means of trade friction and the complexity of the reasons for their initiation. Anti-dumping measures, countervailing measures, "green" barriers, technical barriers, barriers to intellectual property, export control investigations, etc. are common means of trade friction. Trump chose sanctions as the main methods of deterring China, initiated investigations in the field of IPR.

The American government accuses China of stealing the intellectual property of enterprises located on its territory. In December 2018, Deputy U.S. Attorney General J. Demers noted that during the period from 2011 to 2018, China accounted for 90% of all investigations of cases of industrial espionage and 66% of cases of theft of trade secrets ^{[14, p. 25]}. This problem is constantly discussed by representatives of the United States and China, including at the highest level, but, according to the US administration, there is no progress in resolving these contradictions. According to Western politicians, the Chinese government is making insufficient efforts to protect foreign intellectual property in China. According to the American economist G. Wright, such an attitude of the Chinese government to the designated problem cost American business hundreds of billions of dollars a year ^{[15, p. 180]}. Despite bringing the legislative framework in line with the TRIPS Agreement and WTO requirements, the PRC has not been able to effectively administer the new norms. The conclusions of the WTO Dispute Settlement Commission on the complaint filed by the United States regarding IPR violations in China, although, in the opinion of the United States, were not tough enough, still made a certain contribution to improving the situation on this issue, as evidenced by surveys of representatives of the American business community conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

On the part of the PRC, there is concern in the sphere of interaction with one of its main partners. For example, the mention of the "Made in China - 2025" program was completely excluded from the report on the work of the government made in March 2019 at the session of the National People's Congress. At the same time, the declaration in the report of the head of the Government of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang mentions the desire to move to the generally accepted rules of conducting foreign trade and working with foreign investments in the world, as well as the intention to change the rule on mandatory technology transfer in the planned new law on foreign investment.

It is noteworthy that neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration initiated an investigation within the WTO regarding the yuan exchange rate, which the President, as well as many politicians in Congress, the public and the business community consider undervalued and consider as one of the main reasons causing an imbalance in US-Chinese relations.

The investment issue between the two countries is also a cornerstone. The question of the scale of real Chinese investments in the United States worries the American administration in connection with the attempts of Chinese companies to gain access to advanced American technologies. So, in September 2017, President D. Trump banned the acquisition of American companies operating in the field of information technology by investors allegedly associated with the Chinese government ^{[10, p. 39]}. In August 2018, a new law on control over the investment market was adopted in the United States, which clarifies the list of critical technologies that are important for US national security, as well as improves the procedures for the activities of the Committee on Foreign Investment of the United States.

Trump interacted with China at a high level to jointly promote the development of the two countries, but at the same time he often created difficulties for China and strongly promoted the "America first" policy. In November 2019, the representative of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Gao Feng, said that the United States and China had agreed to gradually reduce mutual duties on the supply of goods. According to him, tariffs will decrease at the same pace and in the same volume. If 2017 was the stage of warming up the Sino-American trade and economic friction, then 2018 was the stage of escalation. In 2018, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese washing machines and photovoltaic products, the amount of money from $ 50 billion to $ 300 billion, tariffs from 10% to 30% ^[17]. Trump's erratic, predestined attitude toward China has led to a long-term trade war between China and the United States. After the measures imposed by Washington, the Chinese side announced that, as a retaliatory measure, it would impose a 25 percent duty on imports of 106 goods with a volume of about $ 50 billion supplied from the United States. On April 5, Washington said that due to Beijing's "unfair reaction", D. Trump instructed to study the issue of introducing increased tariffs another $100 billion worth of Chinese imports. Some scientists predict that this trade friction will continue for another 5-10 years. ^{[5, p. 31]}.

The long-term nature of the US-China trade also brings a corresponding colossality. The power gap between China and the United States increases the level of complexity of this trade war, but there is also a part of it that comes from China's internal compromise. In the face of Sino-American trade and economic tensions, Chinese public opinion looks different, some believe that China is too self-confident, inviting repression from the United States. China should not resist the US crackdown to avoid escalating the trade dispute. Others believe that the difference in technological power between the two countries makes an uneven confrontation^{[19, p. 18]}. If during the pre-election campaign, the Chinese authorities were skeptical of Trump's statements regarding China, and hoped that with his coming to power it would be possible to reach certain agreements, then after the first package of sanctions imposed, it became clear that this would not happen. In general, China has realized that the trade war is a step-by-step product. It will move towards regularization, and we must seriously look at the root causes of the problem. While maintaining communication and reconciliation with the United States, at the same time, the PRC is deepening reforms and self-innovation. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has always stressed that it is not afraid of any challenges and threats.

The unpredictability of the American administration and the growing concerns in China about possible excessive concessions from the Chinese side also force Beijing to abandon the traditional practice of minimal sanctification of the details of negotiations. At the same time, the appeal of the chief Chinese negotiator to the term zunyan (dignity) shows that for the Chinese leadership, economic benefit is no longer the only goal of trade and economic negotiations with the United States ^{[15, p. 184]}.

In the context of trade tensions between China and the United States, it is necessary to understand the nature of US behavior. The Americans seem to be discussing economics and trade with China, but many of their demands have long gone beyond economics and trade. Their goal is not to drink, but to restrain China and hinder China's development. The United States has always been consistent in containing China, but the means of deterrence in different periods are different. What used to be sanctions, blockades, bombings of embassies, etc., has now turned into a trade war. Of course, this trade war is also widespread in the fields of diplomacy, military affairs, science and technology, culture, etc. The goal is to maintain "America first". The Hong Kong newspaper Ta Gung Pao published an article by Shi Jun, which states that the United States has four strategies to contain China^[20]. The first is political means that create factors of instability within China. The second is to use military power to create a strategic environment around China in order to lure China into an arms race and absorb power. The third is to put pressure on China in terms of economy, trade and exchange rate and influence economic development. The fourth is a direct or indirect military threat as a last resort.

In the diplomatic sphere, the United States wants to provoke conflicts between China and other countries and force ASEAN, Russia, India and other countries to enmity with China. Any Chinese behavior in the world is maliciously attacked and analyzed through American media and websites with the intention of damaging China's image and preventing its close contacts with other countries. Including the accusation of China in the joint statement of the United States and Japan after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the United States and Japan in Tokyo on March 16, 2021, it also clearly states that the United States hopes to unite its allies to suppress China in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the military sphere, they view China as an imaginary enemy. Also, military provocations are constantly taking place in the north and south, the creation of a "military alliance of the United States, Japan and South Korea." The United States has united Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and other countries to form a new generation of "Eight-Power Allied Forces" to block China on the first and second chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, and will increase military investment and create a new round of "arms race" with China.

In the scientific and technical sphere, the United States has tried to unite with other countries in every way to suppress Chinese internationalization in an attempt to prevent the formation of my country's production chain. At the beginning of the trade war, the US government imposed a number of sanctions on Chinese companies, including technology companies such as ZTE and Huawei, and a large number of Chinese manufacturing industries such as wind power, high-speed rail industries and home appliance companies. The sanctions have seriously affected the normal development and market operations of Chinese companies, as well as the stable development of the Chinese economy as a whole. The second step of the United States is the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to "contain" China's development on the basis of "sanctions". The US government publicly opposes China's development of its own high-tech industries. It has adopted a comprehensive and most complete "deterrence" against China in the fields of technology, interpersonal exchanges, joint investments, education and science. research, and does not leave enough room for the development of Chinese enterprises. It also does not provide the necessary opportunities for the transformation of Chinese enterprises. Its main goal is to use all possible and all means to prevent and "restrain" the pace of China's development.

In the sphere of culture, Trump fabricated various accusations to close Confucius institutes opened in America.  Before the US presidential election in 2018, the frequency of closure of Confucius Institutes was about 2 per year. Since 2018, 80 Confucius institutes have been closed, 20 Confucius institutes every year, which is 10 times more than the previous number. The US government did not close them, but the actions of the US government were one of the reasons for the closure of these Confucius Institutes. Pompeo branded the Confucius Institute, believing that it recruits spies and accomplices. The Confucius Institute has helped Americans better understand China. In addition, education at these institutions also gives American students more employment opportunities. The creation of Confucius institutes is intended only for language and cultural exchange. A complete closure will not only narrow the channels of communication between China and the United States, but at the same time weaken the diverse image of American universities and the power of the American education system ^[21]. In addition, the US restricts and displaces Chinese students. This caused enormous economic damage to American universities and society.

The impact of trade and economic tensions between China and the United States will spread to many areas and even spread to other countries. Although China is a global factory, but it is at the low end of the global production value chain. The United States has imposed tariffs on China and restricted Chinese exports, which not only affects China, but also affects the United States, European Union countries, Germany, South Korea and other countries in the supply chain, production chain and value chain. It will also affect the interests of other countries investing in China, which will cause panic among global investors. For example, the United States imposes additional duties on Chinese exports to the United States worth $50 billion, but 70% of these goods are intermediate products for American companies. Tax increases will inevitably lead to a decrease in US corporate profits, and will also lead to the loss of 2 million Americans' jobs. In addition, the tariff war between China and the United States led to serious damage to European cars, and Germany suffered heavy losses. On May 13, 2019, after China announced countermeasures, the shares of European and American automakers were sold off, and the entire industrial supply chain suffered ^[9].

In the 2020 World Economic Forum report, some data show that the United States ranked fifth with 74.2 points out of 100 possible for flexible working hours, and China was seventh with 73.6 points out of 100 possible. As for the Opinion of business leaders on the development of supply chains, China is the country with the greatest momentum of globalization outside of South Korea. In addition, it talks about updating training programs and expanding investments in skills needed to work in the markets of tomorrow. The USA occupied the sixth position with 68.2, and China occupied the seventh position with 67.^[10] This indicates China's high competitiveness in comparison with other countries of the world. In addition, the significant growth of each rating of China over the studied period of time makes it possible to assume that in the future China's place in the ranking of the World Economic Forum will grow.

When assessing the competitiveness of the PRC, it is worth considering 4 factors: the strengths and weaknesses of the country's development, its opportunities and threats that can weaken the country's position in the world economy in a certain way. The strengths of the PRC include, firstly, its favorable geographical location. Another strength of the country is economic growth. The country also has developed infrastructure in industrial regions. An important factor is the investment climate. There are favorable conditions for investment in China. Another strength of China is that the country has cheap labor. In addition, a large domestic market, a diversified foreign market and cheap production costs, in comparison with competitors, make it possible for China to successfully compete with other producing countries.

One of the weaknesses of the Chinese economy is its dependence on technical and innovative developments of developed economies. The need for significant amounts of energy resources causes an increase in China's dependence on other countries, which is also a negative point. At the same time, China's economy, being at a fairly high level, has a certain development potential. Thus, the country can expand markets due to domestic demand. It is possible to eliminate the threat of dependence on technical and innovative developments of developed economies by increasing the competitiveness of the country through the development of its own technologies. To do this, you need to invest in the development of your own innovations and technologies. In addition, you can pay attention to the formation of new jobs outside the country by creating Chinese businesses in other countries. Nevertheless, in 2018, the volume of U.S. imports of information and communication equipment from China was equal to $ 157 billion, which accounted for 60% of all imports of this equipment to the United States.

President D. Trump, in this regard, declared a state of emergency in this area and imposed sanctions on one of the largest telecommunications companies Huawei, as well as eight of its contractor partners ^{[14, p. 30]}.

All of the above suggests that economic relations between the United States and China have entered a new stage, significantly different from the previous almost twenty-year period of active interaction and growing interdependence. As China strengthens, the factor of increased competition becomes predominant in these relations. The role of the scientific and technical component becomes decisive in it. The most important thing in this situation is the fact that the globalization of the world economy caused by scientific and technological progress, including the rather close intertwining of the economies of the USA and China, comes into conflict with the national interests of both countries seeking to strengthen their positions and role in the world economy ^[3].

The result of the economic war between the two countries by the end of the Trump administration was the introduction by the American government of a number of sanctions. As a result, only in the first 3 months of 2019, the volume of mutual trade between China and the United States fell by 15%. Since no progress has been made in the negotiations so far, in May 2019, D. Trump announced his intention to raise duties on Chinese goods worth $ 300 billion by 25%.^[4] Donald Trump predicted during the election race that if Joe Biden won the election, he would not defend American interests in relations with China, in practice these forecasts did not come true. The new US administration is in no hurry to cancel the tariff restrictions imposed by Trump and echoes the rhetoric of its predecessors about the Chinese threat. Thus, the new US representative at the trade negotiations, Catherine Tai, supported the use of such tools in relations with China. She stated this in a speech at the end of February before the US Senate.

At the same time, according to some scientists, the American government deliberately overestimates the requirements in relation to China in order to eventually give in a little, but still win ^[2]. Economic contradictions significantly aggravated the foreign policy relations between the two countries, which, in turn, could not but affect the world community.

The targeted trade war by the United States has directly undermined confidence in the multilateral trading system. Conducting investigations 201, 232 and 301 violates WTO rules. this slows down the growth of the global economy and does not contribute to recovery after the economic crisis.  US measures are destroying the global supply chain, tariff increases will inevitably lead to increased costs, and companies will be forced to redistribute and affect the stability of the entire global supply chain. The analytical report of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) also noted that the slowdown in China's economic growth is increasing pressure on the global commodity market and represents a new economic threat to Moscow. The subtlety of China's actions lies in the fact that it has reliable statistics and does not contain insults on US accusations; secondly, it involves more countries to reduce its own tensions ^[8].

At the dawn of the global pandemic, Donald Trump celebrated victory. After long negotiations, Beijing and Washington signed the first phase of the trade agreement. China has pledged to purchase two hundred billion dollars worth of American goods — within two years. However, the agreement was not fully implemented. The reason for this was, as well as the global situation with the coronavirus pandemic, and the introduction of trade duties by the PRC in response to American measures to impose trade duties. According to the plan, China was supposed to buy $ 33.4 billion worth of agricultural products, but the Americans received six billion less. Exports of cars, engines and semiconductors instead of the promised hundred billion brought only 57. In addition, Beijing has purchased two and a half times less American energy resources than planned ($9.7 billion versus $26.1) ^[18]. As a result, after the signing of the first phase of the deal, the United States is in a much less favorable position: to the riots and protests that accompanied the change of owners of the White House, a record reduction in annual GDP since the end of World War II was added — by 3.5 percent. During the epidemic in 2020, umir seeks to fight the virus and save the global economy.  Despite the political tensions, tariffs and chaos caused by the epidemic, exports from all 50 US states to China increased by 18%. This increase largely reflects China's rejection of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods and the purchase of billions of dollars worth of goods, such as agricultural products, to fulfill its obligations in the first phase of the trade agreement.  On June 10, 2021, when Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao called U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo to exchange views on topical issues in the Sino-American business sphere. Both sides stated that dialogue and exchanges in the field of business between China and the United States are very important, and they agreed to promote the healthy development of pragmatic cooperation in the field of trade and investment and properly settle differences ^[13].

There is reason to assume that further perception of China as a hostile power seeking to oust the United States at the present stage would be counterproductive and could lead to a complete rupture of Sino-American relations. Trump began his presidential career with the slogan "Let's make America great again," but judging by the facts, the start of the trade war did not solve the fundamental problem and did not even lead to a distortion of global competition and disrupted international relations. But all of his actions serve the national interest and ensure the long-term position of the United States as the number one in the world. Under the influence of traditional thinking, China rarely shows aggression when establishing diplomatic relations, adhering to the code of conduct, according to which "there is a remedy for any case.", politeness and humility. In the face of the provocative behavior of the United States, China will not swallow its anger and will certainly defend its international standing and reputation; but it will not take the initiative to provoke incidents and emphasizes that "peace is the most precious thing." However, China, with its current power, cannot fully withstand a strike from the United States. He must seek allies and adjust his international policy accordingly. The arrival of the 2020 epidemic and the US presidential election are easing the trade war. Of course, tensions between the two countries may arise in other forms.