A trade policy expert explains why Trump and Xi should refrain from a trade war and how they can strike a bigger deal.

Trump, who imposed a wave of tariffs on China in his first term, has slapped another 20% duty on a wide swath of Chinese goods this year. Beijing, the top buyer of American agricultural products, recently imposed retaliatory tariffs of 10% to 15% on a range of U.S. exports like chicken, corn, soybeans and beef.

Ensuring that China’s 1.4 billion citizens are adequately fed continues to top the policy agenda. While the Asian giant remains a key export market for largely Republican states in the Midwest farm belt, Beijing’s efforts to reconfigure supply chains after the trade war during the first Trump presidency have weakened Washington’s leverage.