U.S. Firms Tread Carefully on China Trade Probe

U.S. business groups Tuesday praised the Trump administration’s investigation into China’s trade practices—but cautioned that a heavy-handed probe could backfire, harming American firms.

The investigation into allegations that China improperly pressures U.S. high-tech firms to turn over intellectual property was launched in August under a little-used Section 301 of U.S. trade law, which gives the president broad discretion to penalize a country found to have employed “unfair” or “discriminatory” trade practices.