At first glance, the Trump administration appears to have left President-elect Joe Biden with a solid hand to play in trade negotiations with China. But bringing things to a fortunate resolution will be challenging in numerous aspects. Despite the so-called “phase one” trade agreement hit in January 2020, tariffs between the two nations remain uplifted. US levies on Chinese merchandise have gone from a normal level of 3.1% in January 2018, before tensions kicked off into high gear, to 19.3% now, according to an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. That is down only marginally from 21% before the deal. China’s average tariffs have increased, too, from 0.8% before the trade war to 20.3% now.At the same time, China is all but certain to miss its dedication to acquire a series of US merchandise. By November, for instance, it had acquired only an estimated two-thirds of the volume of agricultural products it carried out for the entire year.