Divisions within the Trump administration over how to prosecute its trade war with China burst into the open again on Monday as plans for new restrictions on Chinese investments in strategic sectors prompted an unusual public disagreement.
The White House on May 29 announced that it would unveil the new barriers to Chinese investment and the export of “industrially significant” products to China by June 30 to accompany the $50bn in tariffs it is already deploying.
The plan, as it stands, is to set up a new regime to sit alongside the national security-focused Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, according to administration officials and people familiar with the discussions. In recent days the debate has focused on the scope of the restrictions and details such as how to decide which transactions should be restricted, whether that be those involving an equity stake above 20-25 per cent or those that come with board seats and other forms of “influence”.