1d ago

China learned from Trump's first trade war and changed its tactics when tariffs came again

apnews.com China learned from Trump's first trade war and changed its tactics when tariffs came again

The leaders of both Canada and Mexico got on the phone with President Donald Trump this past week to seek solutions after he slapped tariffs on their countries, but China’s president appears unlikely to make a similar call soon.

Summary

China changed its approach to U.S. tariffs under Trump's second term.

Instead of reacting unpredictably, Beijing responded with targeted retaliation. It imposed tariffs on U.S. farm goods and blacklisted American companies.

Analysts said China prepared better this time by strengthening its economy and diversifying trade partners.

Unlike Canada and Mexico, which tried negotiating with Trump, China refused to engage directly. Its leaders said they would not appear weak or accept pressure from the U.S. but remained open to negotiations on equal terms.

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10 comments

Curious, did people in China ever feel the burn of trade war?
- The simple answer: no. This so called "trade war" is more of a meme on Chinese social media than an actual concern. Most Chinese people (at least the ones I can interact with directly) are more wondering when the USA will stop shooting itself in the foot.
  
  Same, China. Me too
- Is it not a net benefit to China in that the US drawing inwards expands their global influence? And they must be laughing at what carnage Trump is inflicting on the North American auto sector at a time when China is surging ahead with EVs.
- I mean it's kinda hard to separate from COVID and the set back in their housing market. Basically in an attempt to meet their GDP quotas local governments loaned out way too much money to keep production. So local governments are in a lot of debt which at some point should have cascading effects on the economy.
  
  Yeah, Chinese internal debt is a huge threat to the internal economy. Combined with losing construction as a main economic driver, I would expect a lost decade similar to Japan's economic issues.
  However, an American trade war with the world could benefit China as other countries decouple from American industrial exports that China can fulfill.

10 comments