US-China Economic Tiff Simmers
February 13, 2011, Financial Times

Trade relations between the US and China may not be as strenuous as one would suspect.

"If you look back in history at the rise of countries such as Japan as trading partners, this is the pattern it always follows," said Walter Spak, head of the international trade group at the law firm White & Case in Washington, which often acts for Chinese companies in disputes in the US. "There is increasing trade, then an increase in trade frictions, then often an increase in trade litigation, and then the relationship settles down. This is the normal way the game is played."