President Trump remains optimistic about the Sino-American trade war resolution of both trade deficit eradication and tech transfer enforcement. Trump now seeks to enact new economic sanctions with 25% tariffs on Chinese goods and services if the Chinese Xi administration cannot agree to help reduce the U.S. $375 billion bilateral trade deficit. President Trump suggests a handshake deal instead of a firmer trade agreement when he meets President Xi soon after the second summit between Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un in Vietnam in February 2019. The Trump trade team continues to be optimistic about the next Sino-U.S. trade war resolution of both better trade balance and tech transfer enforcement.

Trump economic advisors indicate that it is easier for China to buy more American products such as soybeans, cars, and airplanes etc in order to reduce the current Sino-U.S. trade imbalance. However, it can be difficult for the Trump administration to strictly enforce complete, verifiable, and irreversible protection of core American intellectual properties such as patents and trademarks. The latter chronic problem persists for many years because it is virtually impossible for the U.S. government to meter unfair intellectual property usage and infringement by Chinese tech firms such as HuaWei.