The Trump administration¡¯s final days are proving as confounding as ever for companies and investors stuck in the middle of an increasingly contentious U.S.-China relationship.
After a week of widespread confusion over the scope of a U.S. ban on investments in businesses linked to China¡¯s military, both Washington and Beijing took steps over the weekend that threaten to further ratchet up tensions and cloud the outlook for cross-border commerce.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo upended decades of U.S. policy on Saturday by removing self-imposed restrictions on how government officials interact with Taiwan, eliciting swift calls for retaliation by China¡¯s state-run media. Pompeo¡¯s announcement came just a few hours before Beijing issued new rules that would allow Chinese courts to punish global companies for complying with foreign sanctions ¡ª a move that could theoretically force businesses to choose between the world¡¯s two largest economies.
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