With China, we are in this mess because decades ago, China had become a considerable military threat, and our leaders rightly or wrongly, decided to jeopardize our economic well being by giving China "special" treatment, in order to entice China to open its doors and become more capitalistic and have friendly relations with the West. It worked partially. However, little did we realize the Chinese shifted their strategy from competing militarily to going on an economic war footing with us. At this point, there needs to be a nuanced way (without destroying the relationship) of making not only the Chinese, but all countries that do business with the US know that the days of taking advantage of America is over. That's why in China's case Trump has picked an Ambassador that knows them well and has had a personal relationship with their leaders.
Guy, the Chinese military isn't that impressive, and they are hemmed in by countries that are just as strong as they are and nuclear states.
the thing is, for all Trumpenfuhrer's touch talk, most of the world WANTS to do business with China, including American Corporations.