The U.S. and China are meeting later this week in Washington to try to find some common ground in their escalating trade war, but don't expect a "grand bargain," according to an international trade scholar.

Markets are closely watching the bilateral trade talks aimed at resolving an escalating tariff war that threatens to engulf all trade between the world's two largest economies. But, according to Alex Capri, a visiting senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's business school, China and the U.S. face substantial differences of opinion — especially on issues that define China's "economic nationalism."

"There are just fundamental issues that are part and parcel to the Chinese economy: the subsidies, the technology transfers, the protection of the local markets. That's not going to go away, so there's no grand bargain," Capri said.