Trump assured guests at a recent ceremony celebrating former SEC Chair Paul Atkins that his administration is still amenable to cooperation with Beijing, saying, “We’re doing fine with China.” According to The Guardian, “We’re going to live together very happily and hopefully work together.”
He added, “It won’t be that high, not going to be that high,” implying that the final tariff rate would be lowered.
This seeming softening comes after Trump previously slammed China with decades of U.S. exploitation. He wrote on the internet, “No one is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances… especially not China, which by far treats us the worst!”
Some trade policies have not changed, despite the change in tone. China is still the exception to the White House’s decision to halt tariff increases for the majority of nations while negotiations continue.
China’s trade narrative is being actively reshaped by President Xi Jinping in the meantime. According to BBC News, Xi urged countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia to oppose “unilateral bullying” and support the defense of international trade standards while on a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia. This is interpreted by analysts as a direct attack on the United States.
“While Trump seems determined to blow up the trade system, Xi is positioning China as the defender of rules-based trade, while painting the US as a reckless rogue nation,” explained former U.S. trade negotiator Stephen Olson, who characterized Xi’s plan as “shrewd.”
