Around the world, businesses, officials and scholars continue to deal with the escalating China-US trade war. But one Chinese drug maker is breathing a sigh of relief. They find themselves exempt from at least one of the biggest US tariffs. How did they do it? CGTN's Wu Lei explains.

The tariff exemption for China's Zhejiang Medicine comes amid an intensifying trade war launched by US President Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA "Don't let anyone ever tell you that trade deficits are OK, they are not OK, they are not OK, We have massive deficit with China."

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA "We will combat the counterfeiting and piracy that destroys American jobs."

Zhejiang Medicine prepared for over a month before sending a company representative to a US court hearing on May 17th. Their main goal: finding the core motive of US retaliation against Chinese firms, and fighting back.

WU LEI ZHEJIANG "CGTN obtained an exclusive copy of Mr. Choon Teo's court testimony. He's the deputy chairman of the Board of Zhejiang Novus Pharmaceuticals, a sub-branch company of Zhejiang Medicine. As we see, he emphasized two main aspects. One is that Zhejiang Medicine uses American-made machinery, they do so with no support from the Chinese government, and they have none of the intellectual property issues identified in the section 301 investigation. As a result, his company is close to helping alleviate the drug shortage and bringing down the cost to American patients, hospitals and US federal and state programs like Medicaid and Medicare."

The company says their drug vancomycin is unique, with no substitute. And it's irreplaceable because the US has stopped its production. Teo also reiterated that it is wrong to treat US patients like hostages in a conflict over trade. He says some are highly vulnerable victims of the opioid crisis. A month later, the US department of commerce decided to erase the company from the tariff list, along with a number of other related Chinese firms in the same industry.

WU LEI ZHEJIANG "We don't know how long the Sino-US Trade spat will continue. But as more Chinese companies go global, protecting their own intellectual property rights has become increasingly important. It is also paramount for Chinese companies to understand differences in various legal systems, so that they can be cooperative and perceived in a positive light in front of judge and juries."

Along with other Chinese companies and representatives, Teo is now attending another court hearing which lasts until Aug.27th, one focusing on over 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese products. WL, CGTN, ZJ Province.