U.S. President Donald Trump has proudly tweeted "I am a Tariff Man," and brandished the tariff card in an effort to convince China to open up its market and reduce its trade surplus with the United States.
However, the fiercest geoeconomic dispute between the U.S. and China is not about tariffs, but instead the contest over digital hegemony in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, quantum computing and facial recognition technology.
This was dramatically shown on Dec. 1, when Canadian authorities, acting at the request of the U.S. government, arrested Huawei CFO and Deputy Chairwoman Meng Wanzhou as she transited through the Vancouver airport on her way to Mexico. She is the daughter of Huawei's founder and CEO, Ren Zhengei, and the "princess" of a firm that China boasts as its largest global corporation.