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TRADE WAR STRATEGY rarely survives first contact with the enemy (just like in conventional armed conflicts): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-14/how-trump-s-trade-war-went-from-method-to-madness
MY VIEW is that this well-researched piece is probably too kind to Lighthizer and other U.S. trade officials. USTR failed to think through how China would react to a very ambitious list of U.S. demands or how the dispute was likely to escalate.
LIGHTHIZER's modus operandi has always been to create a sense of crisis to force negotiations over the line. It has worked with much weaker negotiating partners (Japan, Mexico, South Korea) but was never likely to work with a much stronger and more determined adversary like China
LIGHTHIZER is undoubtedly a good lawyer, but a poor diplomat. He has been fairly poor at closing deals by creating win-win outcomes rather than lose-win outcomes
TRUMP has taken a lot of the blame for a chaotic negotiating process, but Lighthizer has at times provided poor advice, and failed to manage the president's expectations or the expectations of domestic lobby groups, about what was realistically achievable
