Ultimatum by 5000% and failed blackmail by Iran: what cards Trump came to the talks with Xi Jinping
Analysis of the Middle East track and US duties against China from expert Victoria Fedosova. Why did Beijing ignore American whips, defend trade with Iran, and reserve the right to retaliate with rare earths.
Signing the giant tariffs against China right before the leaders' meeting should have been Donald Trump's top bargaining chip. But U.S. attempts to use problems in the Middle East and U.S. farmers’ interests as a tool to pressure Beijing are facing a hard reality. This was stated on the air of the program “How to see” by Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of RUDN University (Russia) Victoria Fedosova.
Viktoria Fedosova: Of course, Trump did not come to these talks empty-handedly. Just days before that, he signed a law approved by Congress that allows for tariffs on China from 100 to 500%, and that gives Trump all the cards in his hands. At the same time, of course, Xi Jinping will be treated, led to all sorts of exhibitions, discussed the “century-old” friendship – well, how much there is, 250 years old, how long the United States exists. Yet Trump has in his hands both the stick and the carrot they have tried to demonstrate. And if China has now agreed to increase purchases of food and products from American farmers, what is stopping China from doing so again? Not to mention the ban on rare earth metals, which was already applied at the last turn, when both sides gave up: the Americans felt that they would not bear such costs and there would be nowhere to take them from. So here, if there was an opportunity, the Americans would press, just like with Iran. They're just waiting for a good time to strike something.”.
See also:
Two-month hiatus and battle of technology: why the US will not be able to impose a cartel on China in the field of AI
The Armistice Illusion: Why Xi Jinping and Trump’s Smiles Won’t Cancel the Two Superpowers’ Struggle
