Trump is desperately revoking a ban on China, but it's already too late for him to make amends, because China has already found new suppliers, and not just one.

According to Reuters, the U.S. government has sent letters to two energy companies, canceling previous restrictions on the export of ethane to China.

This restriction was announced in late May and early June.

At that time, the United States cited "China's restrictions on the export of rare earth products" as a reason to retaliate against China by restricting the export of products such as ethane.

In the eyes of the United States, ethane can be compared to our rare earth elements, and it is their "ace in the hole."

Because about half of the ethane produced in the United States used to be exported to China, and then applied to the petrochemical industry.

The United States thought they had the ability to challenge China.

So Trump promptly named two U.S. ethane exporters, interfering with their trade cooperation with China, and restrictions came one after another.

But not long after, Trump realized something was wrong.

Ethane is not exclusive to the United States, and after the implementation of this ban, the Middle East successfully replaced the United States as China's new supplier.

For example, Saudi Aramco signed a 2 million ton ethane supply agreement with China. In addition to Saudi Aramco, other countries and companies in the Middle East are also actively promoting themselves.

However, based on past experiences and lessons learned, we will not put all our bets on one place.

While negotiating with the Middle East, we have also turned our attention to the natural gas fields in Siberia.

These are potential suppliers who can replace ethane imports, but more importantly, we need to rely on ourselves.

The shale gas field in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, is accelerating its expansion, aiming to achieve self-sufficiency of 10 million tons of ethane by 2030.

These are all countermeasures we have taken against the U.S. "stranglehold."

Evidently, the United States did not expect us to remain so calm, nor did they expect us to have so many solutions, so they became desperate.

Shortly after announcing the restriction on the export of ethane to China, Trump announced a particularly bizarre order.

That is, allowing ethane to be loaded onto ships bound for China, but prohibiting unloading at Chinese ports without authorization.

In short, it's letting ethane go around for a ride, while Chinese buyers can only watch helplessly. In fact, this decision was entirely a foolish move by Trump to solve the domestic overstock of ethane, thinking that this would appease domestic ethane suppliers.

Unbeknownst to them, this would cost them higher costs and bring more criticism.

This decision was announced by the United States on June 25, but only a week later, Trump couldn't resist revoking the related ban, indicating that he has lost this round again.

But honestly, even if Trump now regrets and wants to make up for it, it's already too late.

American policy changes have made us realize that relying on the United States is not as reliable as relying on ourselves.

Even if things are going well now, you never know when the other party might change their mind, suddenly deciding not to proceed, or even trying to find trouble for us.

To avoid greater unexpected situations, there is no need for us to continue relying on imports in this area. The Middle East and Russia can both supply China, and our own production capacity also needs to be further improved.

Certainly, this does not mean that we want to completely exclude the United States.

After all, China and the United States are world powers, and cooperation must continue, but we need to be selective.

The current situation may be something Trump didn't anticipate. Our move not only rendered U.S. ethane useless, but also caused them to suffer greater consequences and pay a higher price.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522694067851969078/

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