The United States has long maintained consistency in its policies toward China. To realize US national interests, containment and engagement have been alternately applied under both Republican and Democratic administrations in the past.

Confronted by the most serious economic crisis since World War II, US President Barack Obama is yet to grapple with a series of intractable economic issues from how to revive a crumbling economy to how to stop the domino collapse of banks and auto sectors and curb rising unemployment. In the $787 billion stimulus bill the new president urged the Congress to pass, a "buy American" article was included. Not applicable to Canada and European Union members, the trade protectionist measure is mainly targeted at China and other developing countries.

To reduce the US trade deficit, the Obama administration is expected to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement in the hope of increasing employment protection for American people. Also, the new US administration will once gain link its trade with other countries to their environmental protection and carbon emissions. All these moves will inevitably add to frictions and disputes between China and the US on such long-standing issues as the trade balance, exchange rates and intellectual property rights (IPR).