Tensions between China and the US are about technological leadership. The Chinese, whose technological catch-up has been rapid in recent decades, is now rather ahead of 5G and Artificial Intelligence. The US does not accept, rightly, this change of equilibrium.
The standoff will continue and I can not imagine a quick trade agreement because it would assume that one of the two countries accepts the leadership of the other. This seems totally illusory and that is why the global environment will remain volatile.
The US is pressuring its allies to limit Chinese influence. To be convinced, read this article of the Wall Street Journal published this afternoon (March 11). It indicates the pressure of the Americans on the Germans in the adoption of a Chinese 5G technology for the renewal of their mobile network.
The article “Drop Huawei or See Intelligence Sharing Pared Back, U.S. Tells Germany” is available here
Here is the first paragraph
“BERLIN—The Trump administration has told the German government it would limit the intelligence it shares with German security agencies if Berlin allows Huawei Technologies Co. to build Germany’s next-generation mobile-internet infrastructure.”….