It is obvious that Trump has been trying to negotiate with China recently. Not long ago, he clearly expressed his willingness to talk, but with one condition: Beijing must take the initiative first. In other words, he has now fallen into a face-off with China. But the problem is that China is not willing to give him this ladder down, as this tariff war was initiated by him and he needs to find his own way out. In this situation, an enraged Trump decided to take another step forward. [Image: "https://p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/tos-cn-i-axegupay5k/2e767c8c33314555bf4be685c2a46426~tplv-tt-origin-web:gif.jpeg?_iz=58558&from=article.pc_detail&lk3s=953192f4&x-expires=1745375541&x-signature=r0H6yHNZEi%2F8sHwJ4KGPHvtI4Lo%3D"] On April 15th local time, Trump signed a presidential executive order at the White House, requiring one of the key members of the White House, the Commerce Secretary Rettig, to firmly defend national security. He instructed Rettig to initiate a national security investigation under the provisions of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, examining the U.S.'s dependence on China in critical minerals, and considering imposing high tariffs in this field. Why did Trump think of this investigation only now? Isn't it a bit late? According to previous reports from Bloomberg, currently, the United States has 15 critical minerals that are 100% dependent on China, and nearly 30 others exceed 50% dependence on China. The question now is not whether the U.S. will impose taxes on China, but what the U.S. will do if China stops selling these things. To address the rare earth issue, British media reported that Trump intends to bypass the United Nations and directly mine illegally in the deep sea. But the problem is, even if they are not afraid of global and UN criticism, they must consider two practical issues: 1. Deep-sea mining costs will be astronomical; can the U.S. afford it? 2. Even if they manage to extract them, just the other day, Musk reminded the U.S. leadership: Rare earths are actually everywhere, and China's true strength lies in having mining and refining technologies that the U.S. lacks. If Trump cannot solve these two practical problems, the rare earth issue will put the U.S. in a deadlock. Why does Trump still refuse to compromise with China after the tariff war has reached this level? This is something many people don't understand. Actually, the reason is simple: 1. First, Trump has realized that even a slight compromise by the U.S. towards China will result in allies betraying the U.S. Recently, the U.S. exempted electronic consumer products. As soon as this news was made public, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba changed his attitude towards the U.S., stating that Japan would not make significant concessions on tariff issues. South Korea is the same; South Korea sent a delegation of more than 40 people to China for trade negotiations. Japan and South Korea, as America's most loyal allies, have betrayed the U.S. like this. The U.S. believes that this is the consequence of giving in to China even slightly. Therefore, Trump has no way back and can only become tougher towards China. 2. Secondly, the current issue is that China's friends are also rising up. In just the past two or three days, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke to Europe and the U.S.: "We haven’t chased any country, begging them to lift sanctions on Russia." Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei also gave the latest statement regarding talks with the U.S.: "I am skeptical of the U.S., but we are confident in ourselves." Some Western media reported that the U.S. plans to make major concessions to Iran. Based on the world's understanding of Trump, the path he will take next is clear: continue to be tough on China while being lenient towards other countries, and even adopt a supportive and flattering attitude towards key countries, such as European countries and Russia. However, this time, China is not too worried about these key countries betraying it. Not to mention that Russia and China are currently in a honeymoon period, we don’t need to worry too much about Europe either. Just before I wrote this article, I saw a message from The Guardian in the UK: It is reported that British Business Secretary Reynolds will visit China later. Wow, this is another European official following Spain's prime minister visiting China. It seems that Europe is walking on the road to real awakening. In the next few days, let’s keep a close eye on these European countries to see what surprises they will bring us. Original source: [https://www.toutiao.com/article/7493720692756628002/](https://www.toutiao.com/article/7493720692756628002/) Disclaimer: This article only represents the author's personal views. Please express your opinions by clicking the "Like" or "Dislike" button below.