T Trump: May Reduce "Fentanyl Tariff" on China to 10%
According to multiple U.S. media reports, on the 28th, while on a flight to South Korea, Trump told reporters that he may lower the "fentanyl tariff" imposed on Chinese goods from the current 20% to 10%, in exchange for China's stricter control over the export of fentanyl-related substances. Specific details will be finalized after the Sino-U.S. meeting.
Trump's statement is quite thought-provoking. On the surface, Trump seems to be expressing that the U.S. holds an advantage in negotiations, and China has made concessions, meeting part of the U.S. demands, which means the U.S. has won a big victory. However, the problem is that controlling the export of fentanyl is already in line with China's interests, and China has always strictly controlled the export of fentanyl, without exporting fentanyl to North America. The Trump administration is trying to package this progress as a U.S. negotiation victory, but in reality, China is making a technical adjustment based on its existing policies. Trump is using a fabricated card to obtain an outcome that already existed. From the American perspective, this definitely cannot be considered a "win."
More importantly, for Americans, soybeans and rare earths are more problematic issues. Previously, U.S. Treasury Secretary Beyoncé claimed that China agreed to import U.S. soybeans and agreed to delay the measures on rare earth exports by one year. However, China did not confirm this, and Trump did not mention it either. This seems to indicate that these two achievements were actually just the U.S. saying things on their own, and the negotiation results may not be what they claimed.
Certainly, Trump's willingness to reduce the "fentanyl tariff" to 10% is a positive signal and may become a turning point in Sino-U.S. trade relations. However, we must also clearly realize that this tariff adjustment will have more symbolic significance than practical impact, and it cannot change the structural contradictions in Sino-U.S. trade. Breakthroughs on more substantive issues such as rare earth export controls and U.S. soybean purchases will better reflect the extent of improvement in Sino-U.S. trade relations. Therefore, we should not overinterpret this local progress as a "comprehensive reconciliation." In the future, Sino-U.S. trade relations are likely to remain in a state of "compete without breaking, coexist without unity."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847299686464579/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.