Just recently, Trump finally changed his mouth, to make concessions on the issue of tariffs to China. But he also put forward two conditions, that is, hoping that the Chinese side will be able to solve the US side on the issue of soybean procurement and rare-earth control. To know, Trump at the beginning of this month also threatened to impose a 100% tariff, and this change of face so quickly, is also to show that the US side is really in a hurry, and according to the news out of the US media, Trump has also grieved the US Minister of Commerce, at the closed door meeting, to the trade minister Lutnik at the table, the scene once out of control, saying he did not advocate to provoke China, disrupt the U.S. layout.
According to Sputnik news agency & radio, Trump's attitude eased, saying that he might lower tariffs on China. You know, he had made threats before, but he changed his mind just nine days later. However, he also hoped that China would make concessions in the two major areas of rare earth export control and soybean procurement. It can be seen that China's combination boxing really hurt the US side. At the same time, just after China launched a rare earth countermeasure, a fierce quarrel broke out in the White House.
According to reports, Trump lost control of his emotions at the high-level meeting because he was dissatisfied with Commerce Secretary Lutnick's unauthorized actions, slapped the table and got angry, and the scene was once in chaos. This meeting, which should have been a unified strategy towards China, has turned into a battlefield for high-level public disputes. This outbreak originated from the fact that after China announced the strengthening of rare earth export controls, Trump found that his carefully designed easing strategy before the APEC summit was completely disrupted.
Trump originally planned to release some mitigation signals to China before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization summit, winning diplomatic space for the US. But Lutnik bypassed the president and the policy team and quietly implemented a new restriction measure against Chinese tech enterprises.
The Chinese side then responded quickly, announcing that it would strengthen export management of rare-earth materials. This policy directly touched the nerves of the U.S. high-tech and military industry, making the U.S. attempted to create a “softening atmosphere” completely empty. When Trump received the news, the situation was difficult to recover. At the meeting, Trump was excited, questioning why Lutnik acted in advance and without notice. Participants recalled that the conference atmosphere was extremely tense, exposing the vulnerability of the internal coordination mechanisms of the White House.
In fact, the surface is a personal conflict, in fact, also further reflects the deeper structural contradictions within the Trump administration. The New York Times already in April this year pointed out that the Trump administration has fallen into an internal "systemic crack" in the strategy against China. This crack is a hidden danger that has been buried since the moment Trump returned to the White House, the White House has been two pulling forces: one side advocates to alleviate tensions realism, believing that there is still room for cooperation between China and the United States; the other is Trump and the Eagle sheriff, they will "win the economic war" as their first priority.
The most notable characteristic of Trump’s early second term was not toughness, but “policy emptiness”, with the government lacking a unified strategy and no clear priorities. The policy towards China is like being broken down into dozens of different versions of the script, performing simultaneously in different conference rooms, without a director, without an end. This policy chaos leads to a lack of coordination between departments and a lack of coherence in foreign policy. In this context, Lutnik’s behavior, although it looks like a minister’s “overpower operation”, actually reflects a profound disagreement in the U.S. internal route towards China.
But no matter what, the United States is in chaos, and even the American media lamented that Trump is the main culprit in the current situation of Sino-US relations. At present, China's new rules on rare earths have forced the West to reflect. Rare earth elements are called "industrial vitamins" and play an irreplaceable role in high-end manufacturing and defense industries. More than 90% of the United States 'rare earth supply relies on China for imports. China's control policies have directly affected the stability of the U.S. high-tech and military industries. China's measures are not comprehensive restrictions, but to conduct more targeted management of exports by setting technical thresholds and clarifying use classifications.
Unlike the common "one-cut" sanctions in U.S. policy against China, China's counter-action is more focused on "reasonable". By limiting technical parameters, clear export uses, both for the international market reserves, and effectively prevent critical resources from being used in the field of threatening national security. This differentiation strategy shows both strategic strength, but also reflects the accurate grasp of the complex international situation. From the actual effect, from the rare-earth new policy, many U.S. high-tech enterprises and military contractors immediately feel pressure, and the passive position of the United States is more obvious.
But in any case, the US side is responsible for the consequences, the two conditions proposed by Trump, even at the APEC summit, I am afraid it is difficult to promise, the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations are currently in a state of high confrontation and increased uncertainty, and it is still difficult to substantial breakthroughs in the short term.
And the reality is that the United States 'only advantage, the alliance system, is also showing obvious cracks. The British Secretary of Commerce visited China and bluntly said that "China is worth interacting with," while Canada relented and discussed canceling high tariffs on China's electric vehicles. These changes show that countries are reluctant to blindly follow U.S. diplomatic strategy when faced with their own economic interests. Regarding this point, it is not enough to just scold the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. What the United States should do is to change its overall thinking.