N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
In the trade war between the US and China, both sides refuse to take the initiative to settle the conflict. In an interview with Time magazine last week, President Donald Trump said that negotiations are being held with China and claimed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinpeng had called him.
But, the spokesman for Beijing’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Guo Jiakun said, ‘Let me make it clear: China and the US are not engaged in consultations or negotiations on tariffs’.
By repeatedly denying American claims about negotiations, China looks to try to reinforce the image that Trump’s trade policy has turned into enormous chaos.
The announcement on April 2 of high import tariffs for almost all of the US’s trading partners sent shock wave through the stock markets. A week later, Trump announced that he was postponing the measures by 90 days, with exception of China, for which an import duty of 145 percent remained in force.
Till now, Chinese leaders have shown full confidence in the strength of their economy and are still firmly in control. They are convinced that the US is shooting itself in the foot with the trade policies.
However, doesn’t China cut into its own flesh with this wait-and-see attitude? Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Monday, ‘The situation is untenable from Chinese perspective, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them. So maybe they’ll call me someday.’
With that, the trade conflict between the US and China turns into a ‘chicken game’: whoever blinks first is lost!
