“The good news is that China is reforming, and many U.S. companies are doing well,” said Barry, whose group supports Trump taking action against China but opposes the use of tariffs as the way to do it. “The bad news is the pace of reform is slow and spotty.”

The architecture industry offers a window into that reality.1

Trade often gets shorthanded to its most tangible form, the flow of goods from one country to another. But the exchange of services is also part of the equation, with building design offering a high-demand example in China amid an extended economic boom there.

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  • 1. ... business setbacks two major U.S.-based architecture firms — HKS and CallisonRTKL — experienced while operating in China: from breach of contract, to intellectually property theft, all the way to corporate imposture, these all-too-common challenges are also part of the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China, which, as HKS chairman emeritus Ralph Hawkins calls it, "such a growing economy, I don't think any firm can ignore it."

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