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China may be ready for a long fight with the U.S.

The latest tussles between Washington and Beijing over trade and currency appear to suggest one thing: China thinks the tensions will drag on.

China is digging in, Chao Deng and Chun Han Wong of the WSJ write, with President Xi Jinping “struggling to rejuvenate a sluggish economy.” He now “needs to appear strong, to preserve his firm grip on the political apparatus and public propaganda machine,” Jane Perlez and Alexandra Stevenson of the NYT write.

So China may try to inflict “maximum political damage,” according to Nathaniel Taplin of the WSJ. Officials appear to hope that a prolonged trade war would weaken the U.S. economy enough to derail President Trump’s re-election campaign.

The Trump administration sees things differently. “The reality is we would like to negotiate,” Larry Kudlow, the White House’s top economic adviser, told CNBC yesterday. “We’re planning for the Chinese team to come here in September. Things could change with respect to the tariffs.”