US President Donald Trump has presented tariffs as a kind of silver bullet against China. When asked if he could stop Chinese President Xi Jinping from taking Taiwan and reach an agreement on fair trade practices,

The nominee for US Treasury secretary said last week that Trump would use the 2020 phase one agreement as a starting point with Beijing. Five days into the new administration, the White House announced on Friday that it was conducting a "compliance review" of what it termed the "Economic and Trade Agreement" between China and the United States.