"It's something that is going to involve a lot of back-and-forth, and part of the problem is that, you have President Trump, who is somebody who is very used to strong, intense negotiation. It's who he is, and he likes results quickly. And unfortunately, it's hard to have both a comprehensive agreement and to have an agreement that produces results quickly," Klowden said.
The economist urged both sides to spend more time to try to understand the other: "It's much more important when it's these two countries, because they are the two largest economies in the world, and what the U.S. and China do affects everyone else".
Stephen Cheung, executive vice-president of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and president of World Trade Center Los Angeles, said that although the U.S. remains a key partner for a lot of Chinese businesses, Chinese investors could look for other trade partners in other nations.
"That is the way that market works; you will find an easier solution, you will find better partners, but really, once you lose your partners, it's very hard to get them back," Cheung said.
Many senior executives of Chinese companies with operations in the U.S. surveyed by CGCC for its 2019 business study expressed concern about the business environment in the U.S., which they see as less welcoming.
The level of new Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. dropped drastically in 2018 and early 2019, after exponential growth that started in 2013 and peaked in 2016 and 2017.
