Despite reaching a trade deal last month in Geneva, the U.S. and China are back at the negotiating table. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China had a call on Thursday about trade that President Trump described as "very good."

But, at the same time, a deeper trade relationship with China does not necessarily seem to be President Trump's end goal. Rather, the Trump administration has been making a concerted effort to decouple the American economy from China.

Sharyn O’Halloran is a professor of political economics at Columbia University and Trinity College Dublin. She joined “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal to talk about what it would take to detangle these two economies and how it might play out.

Use the player above to hear their full conversation.