Beijing has gained time to build up its own strengths by drawing out negotiations with the United States, using its chokehold over critical minerals.

President Donald Trump and officials from China announced that they have agreed on a framework for a trade deal between the two major economic powers.

The tentative deal between the United States and China may represent a retreat from the worst-case scenario of a total collapse of trade between the world's two biggest economies, but it creates more problems than it solves.