U.S. Trade Chief Says New Focus Needed as China Hasn’t Changed

U.S. trade chief Katherine Tai said it’s time to forget about changing China’s behavior and instead focus on rebuilding the U.S. industrial manufacturing base and making domestic investments to counter the Asian nation.

At a congressional committee hearing Wednesday, Tai said talks last year with China on a so-called phase one trade agreement reached under President Donald Trump failed to produce results. Discussions with China have been “unduly difficult,” and the tariffs that Trump placed on China haven’t incentivized the nation to change, Tai said, while not outlining any plans to remove them.

The U.S. needs new tools to respond ...