2 years ago, I would have said Lighthizer was the most hawkish Trump cabinet member. Now, Pottinger and Pompeo seem hell bent on a confrontation, while Mnuchin and Lighthizer apparently care more about the trade deal.

Shore up the trade deal in order to stave off the uber hawks? https://twitter.com/CN_wire/status/1298782422025134080

Soybeans or muh 9 gorillion wiggers? Who u care moar about?

I think @Mont_Jiang had a good thread on a related matter. The US gains reserve status because its good at ensuring global financial transactions are trustworthy. Allowing foreign auditors to look through Chinese companies can be seen as a step towards becoming more trustworthy

in the global capital markets. This, along with the loosening of foreign ownership requirements (which I am not a fan of), seem to be part of China's bid to avoid being cut out of the world economy, which the uber hawks absolutely want (and have engineered policy towards).