At a recent White House meeting, President Trump made clear his preferred approach to trade policy with China, reportedly telling White House Chief of Staff John Kelly: “I want tariffs. And I want someone to bring me some tariffs.”

In sharp contrast, Chinese President Xi Jinping this year has pressed the case for free trade. “Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room,” he warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. “While wind and rain may be kept outside, that dark room will also block light and air.”