Despite appearing to be the winner against all the countries on which he has imposed his tariff policy, Donald Trump seems unable to hold his ground against China. Since his arrival in power in January, the trade war between China and the United States has been more than evident, with back-and-forth actions primarily from the United States. American consumers and businesses find themselves in a state of uncertainty as the fifth month of Trump’s tariff regime begins. It is the businesses that are absorbing the impact of the tariffs, although a small percentage also falls on consumers.
However, to no one’s surprise, Trump glosses over this, recalling the millions of dollars in federal revenue thanks to those taxes. Although both countries have not reached an agreement, Trump has authorized the sale of semiconductors from American companies Nvidia and AMD to China. For its part, the Asian giant has lifted some restrictions on rare earth metal exports. After raising and lowering tariffs in a fight to lead international trade, both countries have made use of mediators. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met in Geneva with their counterparts, managing to reduce tariffs to 30% on Chinese products and to 10% on American ones. Following the United States’ accusation against China for violating agreements, Bessent and Greer met again, this time in London, with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Howard Lutnick also joined these conversations. However, William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group based in Taiwan, stated that China believes the momentum is on its side because Trump has a stronger desire to sign an agreement with Beijing so that he can claim victory and secure a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the fall.
Trade war between China and the United States
Although Trump seems to have won the standoff against the rest of the countries with his tariff policy, China has no intention of backing down. It is the only country that has stood up to Trump’s abusive measures. Despite multiple attempts to reach an agreement, the only clear outcome for both countries is that they want to reach an agreement on their own terms, which is why the results of their meetings often end in extensions. The latest deadline set is for November 10 as the cut-off date to reach an agreement between them.
Effects of Trump’s tariff policy
Trump’s tariff policy is having an effect mainly on American companies and consumers. It is precisely they who live in a climate of uncertainty due to the entry into the fifth month of the tariff regime. More and more countries are already facing the payment of these tariffs, which gives Trump reason to boast about the billions of dollars in revenue that these taxes are generating, ignoring the problem faced by American companies that have to absorb the impact of the costs to prevent consumers from doing so.
Pulse between the USA and China
Since Trump took office in January, tensions with China have been evident. Since then, both countries have plunged into a trade war with tariffs rising and falling:First, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports. China responded with another increase. To this, Trump announced a hike to 34%.After this announcement, China raised it to 84%, to which Trump responded with 125%.
The situation ended with a tariff of 145% on Chinese imports, and 125% on U.S. imports.In an effort to reduce tensions between the two countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with their Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Geneva. After this meeting, tariffs of 30% on China and 10% on the United States were agreed upon for 90 days.
Current situation
Several weeks later, Trump considered that China had violated the agreement, which prompted a second meeting between Bessent and Greer with He Lifeng, this time in London, with the participation of Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. For his part, William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group based in Taiwan, stated that Beijing will be happy to keep the negotiation between the United States and China, but it is unlikely to make concessions. He added, “China believes that the momentum is on its side because Trump has a stronger desire to sign an agreement with Beijing so he can claim victory and secure a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the fall”.