This excerpt from an op-ed by Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler was originally published by the The Hill.

It’s been hard to keep up with the escalating, tit-for-tat threats of tariffs between the United States and China over Beijing’s intellectual property and technology transfer practices. As to complicate things further, both sides are in public disagreement over whether they are in actual negotiations to resolve these issues.

At this point, is a negotiated solution possible? Yes, but the Trump administration will have to prioritize its objectives and package them into a coherent “ask” while being realistic about what China can, can’t and won’t do.

To date, the administration has articulated varying objectives. First, it asked China for concrete proposals to bring down the bilateral trade deficit by $100 billion this year. Second, it asked China to stop unfair behavior in the technology sector.

Finally, it also seems to be asking for one-off concessions, including a reduction of China’s high tariff on American automobiles, and lower caps on foreign ownership of Chinese companies.

These three objectives are not necessarily in conflict, but right now it’s hard to tell what the administration really wants in order to put the tariff threats aside.

Read the full article.