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Despite tough talk, Trump allegedly shows weakness toward China

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(TibetanReview.net, Feb02’25) –China’s foreign ministry has vowed to take “necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests” following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a relatively modest 10% additional tariffs on imports from the country. China’s Ministry of Commerce has also promised to take unspecified “corresponding countermeasures”. Still, according to one analysis, Trump’s tough talk toward China has often been followed by weak implementation, inviting ridicule from Beijing. Worse, much of his anti-globalist policy actions are seen as benefiting China, even if inadvertently.

Apart from the 10% tariffs on China, Trump has also announced 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, all coming into force by Feb 4. Both have also vowed to retaliate.

Trump imposed those punitive tariffs on the biggest US trading partners as a means to pressure them to take actions to stem cross-border illegal immigration and the inflow of drugs, mainly fentanyl, into the country.

Still, the fact that China has side-stepped the 25% hitting Canada and Mexico suggests that there could be a grand deal between the US and China in the works, reported news.sky.com Feb 1, citing analysts.

The report noted that Trump previously spoke on the phone to China’s President Xi Jinping, and they discussed trade, TikTok, and fentanyl. Fentanyl has fuelled the US opioid drug crisis. Chinese companies export chemical precursors that are used by Mexican cartels to make fentanyl.

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According to an msnbc.com analysis Jan 31, it is hard not to notice the disconnect between what the American president said about China before Election Day 2024, and what he’s doing now.

The analysis, by Steve Benen, begins by saying that ahead of his first presidential term, which began in Jan 2017, Trump boasted to voters about how “tough” he’d be with China. But once in the White House, he struggled to follow through on his posturing.

It noted: “Trump vowed to label China a currency manipulator, for example, before backing down. He said he was prepared to walk away from the existing ‘One China’ policy, before backing down on that, too. The administration also started to crack down on the Chinese-backed ZTE Corporation, before once again backing down.”

It all made Trump the subject of mockery in China’s state-run media, with one especially memorable headline in Apr 2017 reading, “Trump slaps self in face, again,” the analysis said.

It continued that as Trump’s second term gets underway, it’s hard not to wonder whether history is repeating itself. For example, Trump is now refusing to implement the TikTok ban.

It noted that after vowing to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China from day one of assuming office, Trump for a while stopped mentioning China ahead of his delayed tariffs announcement. Well, he eventually announced 25% each on Mexico and Canada, but only 10% on China.

On this, the president had earlier told reporters his administration was “in the process” of moving forward with plans for tariffs on China, but he and his team still needed to “make that determination.” The analysis thought that Trump was actually about to exclude China from new tariffs, before the 10% decision.

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The analysis thought Trumps new tariffs on other trading partners might actually benefit China. It cited Edward Fishman, a sanctions expert who served in the Obama administration, as having told The Washington Post this week that the Trump administration’s broader approach to tariffs will give many countries fresh incentive to deepen their economic ties with China.

 “[Trump’s strategy] will undercut the potency of US economic weapons and undercut our efforts to get other countries on our side against China,” Fishman has explained.

The analysis said this is, in fact, a concern with broad applicability. It said The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman had explained in his latest column, for example, that Trump’s anti-climate energy policies “will not make America great again. But it will definitely help make China great again.”

The American president has not yet explained why, exactly, he’s taken steps that will, deliberately or inadvertently, benefit Beijing, but the disconnect between what Trump said before Election Day 2024 and what he’s doing now is significant, the analysis said.

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