Diplomatic adviser says Trump misjudged China’s role in trade war

An adviser to China’s Foreign Ministry said President Donald Trump misjudged Beijing by imagining it would cave into economic pressure, leaving the U.S. exposed and unprepared to handle the current tariff standoff. 

The Chinese diplomatic adviser asserted that Trump had misjudged Beijing by falsely believing China would cave into tariff pressure, leaving the U.S. unprepared for the trade war. President Trump insisted on Thursday that trade talks between the U.S. and China were underway, pushing back against Chinese claims that no discussions have taken place to ease the ongoing trade war. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun confirmed that Beijing had not held trade talks with Washington despite repeated comments from the U.S. government suggesting there had been engagement.

The conflicting statements from Washington and Beijing highlighted the strained communication and uncertainty defining the current trade war, adding volatility to global markets and prolonging economic pain on both sides. American businesses faced skyrocketing import costs while Chinese exporters were squeezed by declining U.S. demand.

China believes that Trump misjudged its position in the trade war

Wu Xinbo, a director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai, said the mainstream narrative within the Trump team was that China would have no choice but to surrender if the U.S. played the tariff card because the Chinese economy was already bad. However, Wu pointed out that China was “in no rush” to talk and was well prepared to withstand the economic pressure, adding that trade talks would have to be “on China’s terms.”

Guo added that China’s position on the tariff war initiated by the U.S. was clear: “We do not want to fight, but we are not afraid to fight. If it’s to fight, we’ll fight till the end. If it’s to talk, our door is wide open.” 

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, explained that Chinese officials mistrusted Trump after weeks of posturing and contradictory messages.

He Yadong, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry, added to the conversation, saying that the U.S. initiated the unilateral tariff hikes. It should heed the rational voices of the international community and its domestic stakeholders to fully remove all unilateral tariff measures against China and find a way to resolve differences through equal dialogue if it truly wants to resolve the issue.

“From China’s perspective, I’d put it this way: The trade war was initiated by the US, but whether to negotiate is up to China — when to talk and what to talk about will be decided by China.”

–Wu Xinbo, Director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai

Bessent said on April 23 that excessively high tariffs between the U.S. and China would have to come down before trade negotiations could proceed and that de-escalation was necessary for the world’s two largest economies to rebalance their trading relationship.

Trump hints at possible U-turn on China tariffs 

President Trump signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods might come down substantially, but they will not be zero. Trump’s remarks reportedly appeared to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond 145%. 

Bessent also said that the trade war with China was unsustainable and expected the battle to be de-escalated very soon. He told investors that the goal was to rebalance trade instead of a hard break or complete decoupling between the U.S. and China. China’s Foreign Ministry officially stated that the U.S. should stop its threats and coercion and engage with China based on equality, mutual respect, and reciprocity if it wanted to make a deal.

On Wednesday, Trump’s shift in tone also went viral on the Chinese internet, with the hashtag “Trump chickened out” trending as a top topic on the social media platform Weibo, where it racked up more than 150 million views.

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