[quote=FlyerInHi] But I agree with the author on one point. Why the trade war if China is already in crisis? They can’t possibly be a worthy competitor, can they?

On trade, Trump will lose…. China will agree to some reforms they already identified for themselves but delayed. China will agree to buy US agricultural commodities — Such an irony because, in free markets, commodities should be freely traded regardless of provenance. Government to government agreements are as anti-market as can be; George Will wrote an interesting article about that.[/quote]

Yeah, we ‘ll see how crappy a deal Trump negotiates. Though if it’s just buying commodities, why even bother doing a deal. There’s almost no realistic way for China to close the trade gap using state purchases.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/B3-CZ055_Dshot_NS_20190124025436.png

Better off to have the 25% tariff – why give money to your rival to arm their military against your own – it just doesn’t make any sense. The trade war is just a facade, as long as the technology and geopolitical issues exist, it’s really a partial cold war.
Free trade and free markets only work if no one is planning a major regional contingency against each other. Even then, there are almost no true free markets among the G7/G20.