Adams Lee in South China Morning Post

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Adams Lee, a Seattle-based international trade lawyer at law firm Harris Sliwoski, said Trump appeared to want to continue holding tariffs over China, given the “Tariff Man” title he has applied to himself.

“He wouldn’t necessarily have to escalate and increase the tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent,” Lee said. “He could say China has done enough to continue talking and maintain the current status quo.

“Seems like more work needs to be done by Lighthizer and lower-level folks with technical knowledge to hammer out what specific actions China needs to do, or what the US finds lacking.”