On October 26, the fifth round of China-US trade talks ended.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent has no press conference, no joint statement. Only the Chinese representative Li Xing said the long meaning when facing the camera - the US position is indeed tough, but China will firmly defend its own interests.
This is well-known and gives enough to the American face, but what is it actually?The British Economist magazine has said: This trade war, the United States has lost!
The story must begin in April of this year.Trump was full of confidence at the time, and felt that with the strength of the United States, tariffs on Chinese goods could be imposed on China.
Who knew that when the news came out, The Wall Street stock market fell, and the financial giants who regularly supported him rushed to call the White House to pressure.
Only then did Trump realize that things were not that simple and quickly announced a moratorium on the implementation of the tariff policy.
Two months later, in June, the United States changed its tactics and began to find fault with the issue of civil aircraft.
China's reaction was particularly interesting. It stopped pestering you on technical issues and directly announced that it would not buy American soybeans.
This move is too accurate. Where are the soybean farmers in the United States mainly concentrated? It is precisely Trump's hardcore ticket warehouse-the red state in the Midwest.
When farmers heard that China had stopped buying soybeans, they called lawmakers and lawmakers pressured the White House. Trump is angry, the Wall Street owners are unhappy, and the farmers vote.
In September, Besent went to Madrid and publicly asked China to liberalize rare earth controls at an international conference.
How important is this for the United States?U.S. high-tech industries, from mobile phones to missiles, are inseparable from rare earth.China controls the key link in the global supply chain of rare earth, which is the backbone of the United States.
As soon as Besent's request was made, China began to launch antitrust investigations into several American technology giants.
These technology companies have made a lot of money in the Chinese market. As soon as they heard that they were going to be investigated, their stock prices immediately fell, and the board of directors held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.
The situation in October is more interesting. China has further tightened export controls on rare earths. Trump became anxious and threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Twitter.
Less than 48 hours after this was said, the White House changed its mind, saying that it was studying various options, and 100% tariff was only one of the possibilities.
Why did you lose out so quickly? Because the reaction from the American business community was too fierce, If a 100% tariff is really imposed, the supply chain of many American companies will completely collapse, and the cost will soar to an unbearable level.
Let’s talk about the US Secretary of Commerce, Lutnik, who was mocked by Trump in his office after the last round of talks failed.
After cursing, Lutnik seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth and did not appear in public for a whole week.
Insider sources say that he has been marginalized and important decisions have been taken out of him. This kind of infighting and confusion has made the position of the United States in the negotiations wavering.
In this fifth round of negotiations, the United States wanted to force China to make concessions through a tough gesture, and the result was that no substantive results were achieved.
When Bessent left, he chose to leave the underground garage and did not want to face the questions of reporters. Li Chengyang's remarks seemed friendly, in fact telling the world: China will not yield on the principle issue!
That "American position strong", in fact, left the face to Besson, let him go back to have a relationship. but at the bottom, the United States got nothing.
The trade war is going on now, but it has made China stronger in many ways.
Some areas that originally relied on imports are now accelerating localization. Companies have understood one truth: key technologies cannot always rely on others, but on themselves.
This consciousness of "independence" is more effective than any policy document.The United States had wanted to overthrow China through a trade war, but instead helped China to complete the mobilization of industrial upgrading.
The problem with Trump's administration is that they regard trade negotiations as a reality show, saying this today, doing that tomorrow, and going back on their word has become commonplace.
International negotiations are not business, and they cannot rely on intimidation and bravado. China's strategy is clear: you hit yours, I hit mine, and we specifically pick the sore spot of the United States.
Agricultural products are not purchased, so that Red State farmers are in a hurry; technology companies check, so that Wall Street is tense; and rare earth cards, so that the Pentagon can not sleep.
The Economist’s comments are positive. They think the US’s failure in this trade war is strategic, not a loss on a particular terms, but a loss on the overall position.
China's determination and counter-measure ability have exceeded Washington's expectations.
Chaos within the U.S. government, pressure from interest groups, voter dissatisfaction, all these factors are intertwined to make the U.S. passive at the negotiating table.
In the end, this trade war the United States was "moving the stone and knocking its own foot". had wanted to hit China with tariff sticks, and the result was that the sticks hit down, but the pain was himself.
Every move of China's countermeasures hit the key, making U.S. interest groups unable to sit still.
On the face, the Chinese side did give Bescent enough decency, so that he could go back for business; But basically, the United States really lost this time.
The trade war cannot be won by the hard mouth, it depends on who has more cards, who is stronger and who is more united inside.From these points of view, the answer is already obvious. What do you think about this?
Source of information:
[1] Reuters, October 26, 2025, The fifth round of China-US trade talks ended unsuccessfully, and the US finance minister dropped off.
[2] Bloomberg, October 27, 2025: For the first time since the talks, Chinese representative Li Xingdong said: We will firmly safeguard the national interests.
[3]The Economist, October 27, 2025 (weekly),"Winners and Losers of the Trade War: Why the United States Lost the Match"
[4]Financial Times, October 26, 2025,"Besent leaves underground parking lot to avoid media questioning"
[5] CNN commercial channel, June 12, 2025, China announced that it stopped purchasing U.S. soybeans, and U.S. farmers reacted strongly.