Trump's attack on Chinese trade gets sidelined over North Korea

The White House had been preparing for a Friday announcement in which Trump planned to urge his administration to open a trade investigation into China’s alleged violations of U.S. intellectual property rights and forced technology transfers, three administration officials said.

But on Thursday afternoon, senior administration aides postponed the announcement at the urging of United Nations and State Department officials, who are in the sensitive final stages of convincing China to sign on to a U.N. resolution that would impose new sanctions on North Korea. U.N. and State Department officials warned that the trade announcement could kill their chances of winning Beijing’s buy-in, according to the officials.