On October 12 local time, U.S. Trade Representative Greer complained that China had not informed in advance before introducing new rules on rare earth export control,"This is a power grab." He also disclosed that the United States tried to urgently contact China for a phone call, but was rejected.
It may seem like a complaint, but behind it it actually exposes the United States 'unprepared response to China's countermeasures. For a long time, the United States has been accustomed to "talking but not thinking" on trade issues, threatening first, then blackmailing, and finally hoping that the other party will make concessions. But now China's response is neat and neat, no longer explaining or accompanying performances, and only follows the rules. Not answering the phone is actually the most direct signal: China is no longer interested in listening to the United States 'old "ways of cooperation."
On the same day that Greer went on TV to complain, Trump and Vice President Vance also rushed to appease public opinion. Trump said,"The United States wants to help rather than hurt China," with an attitude of "I'm actually easy to talk to," and even posted on social media,"Don't worry about China, everything will be fine."
But the question is, who still believes this? Just two days ago, he announced that he would re-impose tariffs on China, which scared the US stock market to evaporate by $2 trillion that day. The Nasdaq, S&P, and Dow Jones all fell, and Wall Street was full of mourning overnight. You know, this is not the result of China's intervention, but the market falls into the pit when the President of the United States opens his mouth.
To be honest, Trump’s hardness is often performing in nature. In the past few years, after every hard speech, he always finds an excuse to retreat, and Wall Street even gives him the name “TACO”, meaning “Trump always retreats”. This time the situation is the same. He cried hard on television, saying China does not cooperate, saying to punish the Chinese side, but turned his head back on social platforms, saying that he hoped to cooperate. The front leg is still threatened, the back leg starts to calm the market, this repeated operation has seen the American business community and allies.
On the one hand, they want to force China to make concessions in trade to regain the so-called “dominance”; on the other hand, they fear market crashes, inflation increases, votes are lost after excessive pressure. So, the Trump administration has fallen into an embarrassing cycle: first challenge, then appear poor, and finally retreat, this operation has been overlooked on the international stage.
China's attitude is actually very clear: you can talk if you want, but you must respect and be equal. You cannot call for cooperation while suppressing it. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce later responded directly, saying that frequent threats of tariffs are not the right way to get along with China. China is unwilling to fight a trade war, but it is not afraid of it. In other words, China is not making a fuss, but telling the United States: You have locked the door to cooperation yourself.
While Trump was still discussing whether to raise taxes, the other U.S. sector’s “action” was more direct. The Federal Communications Commission suddenly announced that the “national security risk” forced e-commerce platforms to sell millions of Chinese products. Electronics, cameras, smartwatches and other devices of several companies, including Huawei, ZTE, Huawei and Huawei, were included on the banned list. Its chairman, Carl, also said that these products could be “used by China to monitor Americans.”
I am actually tired of hearing such accusations. Whenever the United States wants to suppress China technology companies,"national security" is their universal excuse. But the problem is that the United States cannot produce evidence. As early as Trump's last term, the Federal Communications Commission required U.S. operators to strip China communications equipment from the network. As a result, the United States 'own telecom operators calculated that the cost of demolition alone was close to US$5 billion, and the government could not afford it. What's even more ironic is that the United States says it will ban "unauthorized products," but most of these products have actually passed certification long ago. In other words, the United States is slapping itself in the face.
Of course, China cannot sit idly by and ignore this. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made it clear at the press conference that the United States has repeatedly introduced restrictive measures against China, which has seriously damaged China's interests. China urges the US to correct its mistakes and resolve differences through dialogue under the guidance of the consensus reached by the two heads of state. If the United States insists on going its own way, China will also take resolute countermeasures. There is no room for ambiguity in China's attitude: if you want to exert extreme pressure, then we will accompany you to the end.
China has no obligation to follow every “telephone diplomacy”, especially when that phone call is just for pressure rather than communication. The United States wants to continue to “take the fake” of China economically, and may continue to issue, or add tariffs, or engage in technological blockade, or hit “safety signs”. but it turns out that every time they do this, it will force China to improve its system faster, and eventually let the American tools fail.