Trump, who was angry and angry, brazenly imposed tariffs on China. His subordinates who had made trouble did not understand why the White House thought they could win.
As Trump threatens to impose a 100% tariff on China from November 1, the trend between the two countries seems to be heading towards a new trade war.
However, the sharp contrast to Trump’s voice is the extreme caution of senior U.S. officials.
Among them, U.S. Trade Representative Greer spoke.
Some American media directly asked him whether the current situation between China and the United States was a trade war. To this, Greer's reply was that they had to "take a look" first and that "there is no need to do this at present."
If needed, the US side is ready. Moreover, in the eyes of the US, the American people are also ready.
Obviously, whether it’s a “look” or “no need” reflects Grier’s view that he doesn’t want to use “trade war” to define the situation between the US and China at this stage.
Compared with Trump's speech, Greer obviously seemed much calmer. There was naturally a reason why he said this.
First of all, a major feature of the Trump administration is that Trump himself can sometimes "talk recklessly" and vent his emotions wantonly, but senior officials under his command cannot do so recklessly.
The reason is simple, Trump is the president who came to power through general elections, and so is his own character. As long as it is not a serious illegal thing, there will be no fundamental shake on Trump's position.
Whenever Trump makes irresponsible remarks, he can shamelessly say that the outside world has misunderstood, but that is not what he meant.
However, the officials under his command need to consider many things. If he is as careless as Trump and causes serious consequences, then he will be the one who will suffer.
The topic of the Sino-US trade war is extremely sensitive and important. Any "definition" that the United States wants to make requires high-level discussions and Trump's nod.
Even high-ranking officials such as Greer do not dare to speak at this stage.The most reliable way of course is to give relatively gentle, vague statements, such as “look at it” and “it’s not necessary at the moment.”
Secondly, from the perspective of some senior US officials, they are not optimistic about another trade war with China.
Trump returned to the White House shortly after he launched a trade war with China, and what about the outcome?China’s repression one by one, from tariffs to rare-earth products to agricultural purchases ... all hit the pain of the United States.
Subsequently, the United States had to sit at the negotiating table with China and try to solve the problem in a less expensive way.
The provoking is the U.S. side, the concession is the U.S. side, and Trump's trade war with China clearly did not meet his initial expectations.
Even for the Trump administration, which takes the trade war as its core agenda, this is their failure.
Since the first time has failed, why does Trump think he can win the second time? If the United States really has a "card" in its hands, it has already played it before, so why wait until now?
In the final analysis, what are the odds of winning the United States in another trade war with China? Greer, as the US trade representative, certainly knows it.
Obviously, at least from this statement, he is not optimistic about it.
To know, Greer followed U.S. Secretary of Finance Bessent, participated in the Sino-U.S. economic and trade negotiations. For some details of the Sino-U.S. confrontation, as well as the attitude of the Chinese side, Greer is likely to have a deeper understanding and deeper experience.
Of course, after all, he is Trump’s servant, and it’s impossible to sing counter to his boss, so he didn’t forget to add one sentence – “The United States is ready.”
Preparation for what? It is nothing more than preparations for another "war" with China.
However, whether his statement was true or whether it was a bluff, only he knew the answer.
As for his so-called "the American people are also ready", I'm afraid he's trying to be brave. The Sino-US tariff war has left the United States full of chicken feathers, and the opposition is endless.
In fact, Greer is actually a "chicken thief", specially adding the sentence "in the eyes of the US side" in front of it. It is intended to show that this is the judgment of the Trump administration as a whole, not the idea of Greer alone.
It can be seen that these senior U.S. officials do not see much responsibility and responsibility, even in matters concerning the vital interests of the American people.
In the end, if Greer really wanted to know if the American people were prepared, it would be better to ask those American farmers who have so far been worried about selling their own soybeans.
Of course, even if Greer doesn't understand why Trump thinks he can win China for the second time, as a senior American official, he has to carry out the president's order.
Although Trump's new tariff threat to China is still temporarily at the verbal level, but given his unreasonable and emotional style, China and the United States will not "war" again.
After all, a few months ago, we witnessed the tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese goods soaring to 145%.
However, the outcome?
If China can successfully counter Trump once, it will naturally succeed the second time. The hesitation of senior US officials has shown that if the Sino-US trade war breaks out again, there will be no second outcome.