Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/20/19

A new report from the nonpartisan National Bureau of Asian Research warns the White House that it's naive to expect that China will agree to make deep structural reforms to its economy in the ten days before the March 1 deadline to produce a trade deal.

The better strategy , the report said, is not to cut a deal full of half-measures but instead to keep tariffs on Chinese goods in place — potentially for years — while working with the EU, Japan and other allies to crank up the pressure on Beijing to implement lasting reforms, Pro Trade's Doug Palmer reports this morning.

The report comes as U.S. and Chinese officials continue high-level negotiations in Washington this week. Trump is ready to increase tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods on March 2 if a deal is not reached.

"We don't think inflicting collateral damage on the U.S. economy is a good thing," said former Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), one of the report's authors. "But we're saying hold the line right now [on tariffs], short of any kind of major breakthrough. We want the administration to pivot to taking the long-term approach to this."

The authors said it's possible in the meantime to negotiate "interim agreements," like lifting Chinese tariffs on U.S. farm goods in exchange for Trump removing duties on Chinese electronic goods.

The Chinese government announced Tuesday that it plans to expand its agricultural overhaul in a bid to bolster its rural economy and offset trade challenges. Reuters reports Beijing will promote increased soybean planting, accelerate its development of a new farm subsidy system and crack down on ag smuggling.

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley also warned Tuesday that a quick agreement between Washington and Beijing is likely to fall short of addressing the big-ticket trade concerns the Trump administration wants China to rectify, Pro Trade's Megan Cassella reports .

More GOP forecasts: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told CNBC that he expects a three-part dealincluding commitments from Beijing to protect U.S. intellectual property, buy more U.S. goods to reduce the trade imbalance and curb subsidies and other unfair advantages of Chinese state-owned enterprises, Doug writes.