Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump could conceivably have two purposes levying tariffs on China. First, to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Second, to make deals and get wins. The first strategy would require going on a TACO-free diet until Jan. 20, 2029. The second would require getting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make concessions to him. Trump is now whining on his boutique social media site:
I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!
So, we have a pretty good clue which strategy Trump is pursuing.
Xi may be a dictator, but he is a Chinese patriot and definitely not stupid. He understands that Trump wants a quick "win" to brag about, so he is not budging on the things Trump cares about. After all, Xi doesn't have to worry about his image or elections next year. He also knows that the longer he holds out, the more desperate Trump will become and the smaller the crumbs needed to satisfy him will be. Maybe in 2 weeks, Trump will be so desperate that he will be satisfied with China agreeing to buying some unspecified additional amount of soybeans some time in the future, will then call that a phenomenal victory, and then will move on.
On May 12, the U.S. and China reached a deal in Switzerland that included a 90-day suspension of the absurd tariffs both had imposed. Now they are accusing each other of violating the deal. Trump reneges on deals all the time and has done so for years. In particular, Trump was expecting Xi to loosen the restrictions on the export of rare earth materials and Xi has not done so. Whether that was actually part of the deal or merely something Trump was hoping for is not at all clear. It could be that Xi may have said he would consider it and Trump interpreted that as he would do it, rather than he would merely think about it. The rare earths are needed in many products made in the U.S. and the makers of those products may now be leaning on Trump to fix the problem.
Of course, if Trump were actually a good negotiator, he would be talking to Volodymyr Zelenskyy and making him an acceptable deal for Ukraine's rare earth minerals. That would be something like more weapons in exchange for an agreement to give some U.S. mining company the right to extract Ukraine's minerals at the standard royalty rate used in other extraction industries. That would make Xi nervous, but Trump can't plan ahead in tic tac toe, let alone checkers.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to talk to Xi on the phone. This is really stupid on many fronts. First, telegraphing that you are desperate about something gives power to your opponent. Second, Trump couldn't tell a rare earth from the new dwarf planet just discovered in Pluto's neighborhood, and won't be bothered to learn, while Xi will be sure to be briefed by his experts on the subject of rare earths before taking the call. Third, it is well known that Xi never makes deals on his own. He expects his team of experts to knock heads with the other side's team of experts first, and then when they have made an agreement his experts like, they present it to Xi for a yes or no.
In short, there is little doubt that if Xi takes a call from Trump, it will be to eat his lunch. We predict a meal of moo shu pork, which is basically the Chinese version of tacos. (V)