President Trump has indicated that talks with China will go ahead but that the U.S. is “under no pressure” to do a deal. The Chinese government meanwhile has reaffirmed its desire for “sustainable bilateral trade” but again criticized the U.S. focus on reducing the trade deficit. Unless there is an agreement on the basic economics of the relationship the chances of a near-term agreement to avoid an increase in duties to a further $260 billion of bilateral trade from $100 billion seem low. The duties imposed so far may actually have increased the U.S. trade deficit, which reached $394 bil...