Things start with China’s recent upgrading of rare-earth chain control policies.
Rare earth, a seemingly unpopular word, is actually related to all aspects of modern industry.
From smartphones to new energy vehicles, from wind turbines to military radar systems, rare earths are indispensable raw materials.
As the world's largest producer and exporter of rare earths, China has absolute say in this respect.
When China announced measures to strengthen rare earth controls, Washington immediately felt the pressure.
Trump's administration has always been accustomed to using the universal reason of "national security" to restrict Chinese goods and technologies. Now, when it's China's turn to control its own resources according to law, the US can't sit still.
This double standard is clearly seen.
Trump's reaction is in line with his usual style.
In the face of China's rare-earth control policy, he did not choose to communicate through normal diplomatic channels for negotiations, but instead directly offered the tariff threat, the "killer trap".
Starting on November 1, Additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goodsThis number sounds really deterrent.
On October 12th, the response of China's Ministry of Commerce impressed many people.
“I don’t want to fight, but I’m not afraid to fight.”These eight words are said very clearly, showing both the goodwill of the Chinese side not wanting an escalation of the trade dispute, and showing a firm stance in the face of the threat. 。
The Ministry of Commerce specifically mentioned a key issue in its response: Misconfidence from the US.
Since the economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, in just over 20 days, the U.S. has added a number of new restrictions on China, including several Chinese entities on various control lists.
This discrepancy makes it difficult to believe the sincerity of the United States.
China's criticism goes straight to the point.
The United States, on the one hand, imposes various restrictions on Chinese goods and enterprises on the grounds of "national security", while on the other hand, it sets its finger at China's regulation of its rare earth resources in accordance with the law.
This approach not only violates the basic rules of international trade, but also exposes U.S. hegemony on trade issues.
Trump's tariff threat this time may seem massive, but it is actually more like a bluff.
The current economic situation in the United States makes it difficult for him to really launch a new round of tariff warfare.
The issue of government shutdown has not been fundamentally resolved so farDomestic political differences remain severe.
More importantly, the lessons of the previous rounds of tariff wars are still in sight.
Those Chinese goods that are subject to tariffs will ultimately be paid by American consumers and enterprises.Rising prices and increased costs are all real burdens.
Soybean crisisis a good example. When tariffs were first imposed on China's agricultural products, American soybean farmers were one of the most active supporters.
As a result, China reduced its purchase of American soybeans and turned to other countries such as Brazil, and American soybean farmers became victims instead.
Now the Trump administration is actually still trying to restore these orders, hoping that China can re-purchase large quantities of American agricultural products.
Tighter export controls on critical software is also part of the threat.
The US continues to pressure China in the field of technology., but the effect of this approach is increasingly limited.
China’s pace in technological innovation and industrial upgrading has not slowed down due to U.S. restrictions, but has achieved faster development in some areas.
Faced with the US threat, China is not as passive as it was a few years ago.
After these years of development, China's industrial chain resilience and market diversity have increased significantly.
Even if the US actually imposes an additional tariff of 100 percent, the impact on the Chinese economy will not be as big as expected.
Chinese companies have also gained extensive experience in dealing with trade frictions.
Various measures such as industrial transfer, market replacement, and technological upgrading have made the Chinese economy more resilient to risk.
The implementation of the rare earth control policy is a concrete manifestation of China’s use of its own advantages to safeguard its national interests.
But here's the thing. China’s position in the global supply chain did not decline due to trade friction.
On the contrary, China’s influence continues to expand in some key areas.
This makes the US threat seem even more pale and powerless.
While issuing the tariff threat, Trump also said that he would not cancel possible meetings with China during the APEC South Korea Summit.
This contradictory attitude exposes the true thoughts of the US side.
While threatening to impose tariffs, they are unwilling to close the door to dialogueThis shows that the U.S. is clear that a trade war is not beneficial to either side.
The Trump administration needs to find a balance between domestic politics and relations with China, not only to meet the demands of domestic hardliners, but also not to completely deteriorate Sino-US relations.
The South Korean summit could be an opportunity for both sides to ease tensions.
On multilateral occasions, if the leaders of the two countries can engage in face-to-face exchanges, they may be able to find new ways to resolve the current trade dispute.
In its response, China clearly put forward the fundamental prerequisite for economic and trade cooperation: mutual respect and equal consultation.This statement is very critical and points out the correct direction for resolving Sino-US trade disputes.
Any unilateral bullying and extreme pressure can't succeed.This has been repeatedly proved by practice in the past few years.
If the United States sincerely wants to improve China-US economic and trade relations, it must abandon the zero-sum thinking and conduct dialogue and negotiations with an equal attitude.
China demands that the United States immediately correct its wrong practice, which is not only a response to the current dispute, but also a clear guidance on the direction of future cooperation.
If the United States is determined to act alone, China will inevitably resolutely defend its legitimate rights and interests.
Source of information:
Official website of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China - Official statement of the Ministry of Commerce on October 12 about the US tariff threat
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) official website-Trump administration announced policy announcement of imposing 100% tariffs on China
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China-Official release document on the upgrade of the entire chain control policy of rare earths
U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industrial Security (BIS)-Official Notice of Tightening Measures for Critical Software Export Controls
Official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China-Press release on the Sino-US Madrid Economic and Trade Talks in September
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Official Website-Information on the Arrangement of China-US Leaders' Meeting during the Korea Summit
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Statistics - Statistics on the resumption of export orders for agricultural products such as soybeans to China