U.S. Suddenly Slammed the Brakes! After Trump announced that tariffs would be raised from 10% to 15%, the U.S. quickly made a statement to us! On February 22, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Clapp stated that the upcoming Sino-U.S. meeting in April is not intended to confront each other on trade issues. The core objective of this meeting is to maintain the stability of bilateral relations and ensure China effectively fulfills existing trade agreements, including expanding purchases of U.S. goods such as agricultural products and Boeing aircraft, as well as supplying the U.S. with required rare earth resources.
Clapp said that this meeting mainly aims to assess the implementation of existing trade agreements. If there are further possibilities for cooperation outside the current framework, the U.S. is also willing to cooperate. Obviously, just after Trump abruptly raised tariffs by 15% and they were about to take effect, the U.S. suddenly made statements saying that the core goal of the Sino-U.S. meeting is to maintain the stability of bilateral relations. What message does this convey?
This message is obviously that before Trump's visit to China, the U.S. will not escalate the Sino-U.S. trade conflict. In other words, these new 15% tariffs will not take effect. The U.S. wants to maintain the stability of bilateral relations. If it provokes a new trade war, it completely contradicts the goal of maintaining the stability of bilateral relations. This would not only undermine the consensus already reached between China and the U.S., but also disrupt the rhythm of high-level meetings between China and the U.S. At that point, whether Trump can visit China would be a big question.
What is the U.S. side's real intention? On one hand, they want us to fulfill existing trade agreements, and on the other hand, they want us to buy this and that. What is the bottom line of the U.S.? If the U.S. is not moving in the same direction as us, why should we meet the U.S. requirements? In fact, after Trump increased the tariffs, we did not make any obvious comments, which indicates that we are remaining calm and unshaken, like a fisherman sitting still. The U.S.'s statement is actually a signal that we should brake. In short, the U.S., which has demands on us, currently has no leverage in Sino-U.S. relations.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857874485742731/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.