While the White House is touting last weekend’s agreement with China to pause tariff increases as a “historic win in trade”, observers say the deal validates Beijing’s strategy.
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Diplomatic observers said the US-China agreement to roll back tariffs on each other’s goods by 115 per cent represented success for Beijing’s defiant strategy against “economic bullying”, and also offered some early experience on how to deal with President Donald Trump 2.0 over the next four years.
However, they cautioned that the 90-day truce would not avoid long-term confrontations and called for early preparation to deal with the persisting sticking points and structural divide in bilateral ties.
Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that if Beijing had not stood firm in the fight, “we would not have such a result, and China would have had to sacrifice a lot”.
“It’s best not to harbour any illusions, as Trump’s combative volatility and reckless behaviours that disregard consequences are very dangerous,” he added.
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While Trump frequently discussed tariffs during his election campaign, the 125 per cent reciprocal tariff imposed on Chinese products after April 2 was unprecedented and significantly hampered trade between the two nations.