Talks aimed at resolving the trade war between the U.S and China are due to resume Tuesday.

The two sides have called a truce as they attempt to bridge their differences.  But for many U.S. states, the damage has already been done in billions of dollars of lost investment.

And they’re quietly defying Trump to try to keep trade with China going.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough has more.

With the U.S. and China still locked in a trade war some experts fear it may escalate into something worse.

“The United States has the potential for major conflict with China on all fronts- strategy, diplomacy, security, military,” Cheng Li, director of the John L Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution said.

And individual states such as Oregon are among the casualties.

“What is happening nationally has had a chilling effect on commodity prices and our ability to sell goods to China,” Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon said. “It’s been extremely detrimental, particularly in the agricultural sector, which is a huge driver of the Oregon economy.”

Oregon once benefited from record Chinese investment in the U.S. and China remains the number one client for the port of Portland.

But overall, Chinese direct investment in the U.S. has dropped more than 80 percent since President Trump took office in 2017.

Missouri’s former Governor has also witnessed the fallout of the White House pressuring China into changing what it considers harmful trade practices.

But if states can’t alter federal trade policy, they are determined to keep their relationship with China alive by investing in cultural and education exchanges.

“From my perspective as a governor it’s all about the jobs and the economy, but if I can’t impact that then I’m going to do everything I can to focus on the relationships in the cultural place, because that’s a long-term investment,” said Governor Brown.

As China hosts the latest round of trade negotiations with the U.S. these leaders hope that kind of long-term view will prevail.