Xi actually humiliated Trump twice by making him stand on stage waiting for Xi to appear. To geopolitical onlookers that was an indication of who really holds the position of a powerbroker. Power is exhibited by appearance, not by boasting out loud. The second humiliation came when Trump was trying to paise Xi as a tough negotiator and all the nonsense, while Xi just kept quiet, not responding, not acknowledging and let the echo chamber carry on and on. That silence shows who is the real one holding the cards.
All the agreements talked about at the meeting were basically mere 'consensus' to settle issues hanging in the air. That is not real agreements. That is the same story as in Geneva and Alaska earlier, all touted by the USA as 'done deals'.
Let us talk about the Tik Tok issue, with Scott Bessent claiming a deal had been reached without giving specifics, while the Chinese side just said that issues have still to be discussed. Does that indicate anything?
Let us talk about Trump gloating that the rare earth issue has been 'settled', while the Chinese side indicated that the sanctions waiver is only for one year. In my opinion, China is basically telling the USA that since Trump already gloated that the USA would have so much rare earth within one year, that he does not know what to do with them, China is just giving a one-year waiver over rare earth sanctions for Trump to build his mines and refining logistics just to see what happens. Is China setting a trap for Trump to fall into again?
Let us talk about the soya bean issue as well, with China already committed to buy Brazilian and Argentinian soya beans and other agricultural products, with long term agreements forged. Now, is China going to just ditch those deals just to please Trump and buy back USA soya beans? I leave that to your judgement. China does not make and tear up agreements like the USA. Sure, China can just buy a little of the soya beans from USA, but just for ego boosting for Trump that he is doing something for the farmers.
Anonymous
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According to Trump's sycophants, he won the trade war against China, based on rhetorics and hype. But according to pundits and economists like Richard Wolff, Jeffrey Sachs and analysts like Kishore Mahbubani and David Oualaalou, China already won conclusively. There is no need to waste more time negotiating and putting on a show for the sake of onlookers and trying to persuade the fence sitters and undecided that the USA has the cardless upper hand.
The USA is at the 5th stage of the decline of empires, with the 7th stage the finality according to one source. The irony is that Trump and his clowns and cronies in the EU are hastening the downfall of the USA hegemony, by playing with their empty hands when China and Russia already hold all the cards.
Take the case of the Nexperia seizure that is now decimating the vehicle manufacturers in Europe and USA as well. Vehicle manufacturers in Europe and USA could at least have a couple of years left to fight for survival but are now hanging by a thread due to the seizure. The USA was the mastermind behind the move, the Dutch the executioner and China still stand tall even with the two working together.
Strangely, this was not an issue being brought up by Trump in his meeting with Xi, perhaps realizing that the USA was wholly behind the move. Bringing it up would have worked against the USA's Chip Alliance, exposing the high-end chip fixation and allowing China to dominate in the legacy chip sector under its nose. That has now exposed the equally important legacy chip sector, the heartbeat of EVs and all other consumer products. China's long-term thinking and planning has now enabled it to counter another coordinated attack by the USA and the EU.
China need not initiate any attack against its enemies, preferring to let them fire the first shot and then retaliate strongly. Suffice to say, this time, China must not again relent despite all the moves by vehicle manufacturers in Europe trying to seek a way out in talks with Chinese leaders. After all, the USA and EU are engaging in an EV war against China, and bringing down the EU's vehicle manufacturing is not an illogical move.
Trump forgot that all his cards are made in China.
Another round of sanctions will not move any needle against China. China has laid the groundwork and has obviously taken such a move by Trump into consideration. That China is actually in favor of de-coupling from the USA makes sanctions and tariffs just moot points.
If the Dutch stands firm on its decision and China does not take it lying down, some are arguing that such packaged chips can also be sourced elsewhere, but how long is that going to take and at what volume to satisfy the demand? We are talking about Nexperia Dongguan turning out 50 billion chips a year, which is a massive volume.
China has time on its side, while vehicle manufacturers right now do not have the luxury of waiting. So, who holds the upper hand and who is going to suffer the consequences?
Nexperia chips made in China are still available to domestic distributors, but the requirement is that any sale must be done in Yuan as opposed to other currencies like the US$ while under the Dutch head quarter's control.
Suffice to say, vehicle manufacturers have to wait while Nexperia, under the Dutch control, have to look for alternative partners to do the packaging which is a high mountain to climb at such short notice when stocks are not expected to last two more weeks. Vehicle manufacturers cannot wait and need those chips urgently.
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