The US is not and has never been our "racing partner."  The country is protectionist and has always been protectionist. Some administrations have been more favorable toward bilateral trade, others have not. Mostly the US has not favored bilateral trade within its sphere of influence. How much of the country still believes in slavery is I think, a fair and open question. 
In all cases there are strings attached to bilateral trade as a function of diplomacy, so don't be foolish. 
Moreover, we don't need for the US to be our "biggest racing partner." We need many big partners, and we need to know what we are "racing" for.   Mostly we need a strong domestic economy and ownership of means of production. There isn't a single wealthy country in the modern world that did not build its strength on its domestic economy (whether on the backs of slave labour or another). The US is simply putting the same type of pressure on China that it put on Japan when it ascended from the 60s through the 90s.