Trump went crazy again! He posted on Friday night Beijing time, accusing China of "totally violating" the Geneva Tariff Agreement and issuing new veiled threats to China, stating that he was no longer the "good guy."
The post Trump made did not specify how China "totally violated" the tariff agreement. Instead, he exaggeratedly claimed that "two weeks ago, China was in severe economic danger," and used the term "social unrest." He claimed that the quick deal reached between the U.S. and China "saved them (China)," and after this agreement, "everything stabilized quickly."
It was a completely overbearing and extremely narcissistic tone.
U.S. Trade Representative Greer complained about China to reporters on Friday. The U.S. seemed most dissatisfied with China's "delayed action" in issuing rare earth export licenses. This is the most specific accusation seen so far from the U.S. side. The joint statement issued after the Geneva negotiations between China and the U.S. did not mention rare earth or critical minerals. It only stated that China would suspend or cancel non-tariff countermeasures against the U.S. starting April 2nd. Rare earth is China's strategic card and ace. Long before April 2nd, China had already strengthened its control over rare earth exports. Just two days after signing the Geneva agreement, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced an operation to crack down on rare earth smuggling.
In Mr. Hu's personal opinion, China will never give up its ace card - rare earth. Our relaxation of restrictions on rare earth exports to the U.S. should be linked to the U.S.'s relaxation of restrictions on critical items exported to China, such as relaxing restrictions on semiconductor exports. Both sides need to relax together. Both sides should conduct detailed negotiations to coordinate and make their measures to reduce export restrictions and tariffs mutually balanced and equivalent.
Mr. Hu personally believes that Trump's latest threat will not scare the Chinese side. If he wants to intimidate other negotiating parties by talking tough to China because his negotiations with other countries are not going well, it will not produce the effect he hopes for. Now fewer and fewer people in the world fear Trump's verbal stick. Even the stock market has become proactive in discounting his words. After he issued his latest threat on Friday, the initial reaction of U.S. stocks was quite weak. Market participants have summarized Trump's套路of influencing the stock market with his words, so the fluctuations in the stock market have become smaller.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833561865729024/
Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's views.