The stakes are about as high as they can get. If legislators revoke China's new normal trade status, as some in Congress have threatened, the cost of cheap goods from China would rise and the Chinese could retaliate by restricting American exports to the world's most populous nation, changing the economic climate in both countries. This suggests that both sides will avoid costly trade moves. For more than 20 years, Western capital has poured into China, with a brief halt after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Beijing remains confident of the seductive power of its markets, with 1.3 billion potential consumers.
China is unlikely to gain from the stand-off.
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