Miami Herald (source: AP)

American companies want President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Beijing to win them real improvements in their access to Chinese markets, not just a smaller overall U.S. trade deficit, a business group said Tuesday.
Companies that responded to a questionnaire last week want an end to Chinese pressure to hand over technology, unequal enforcement of laws and other chronic problems, said Tim Stratford, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. If not, he said, their losses in a tariff war “will be a tremendous waste.”
The comments appear to reflect support for U.S. officials including Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer who want changes in industrial policy that Beijing’s trading partners say violate its free-trade obligations. Others worry that Trump might accept less in return for China narrowing its politically volatile trade surplus with the United States through higher purchases of soybeans and other exports.
“If we don’t address the underlying structural issues, we will have continued trade frictions,” Stratford said in an interview.