Published: 6:26am, 18 Oct 2025Updated: 6:34am, 18 Oct 2025
Blame games, tit-for-tat threats, off-again on-again meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and wild tariff swings seem to be the recent order of the day.
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According to former government officials and analysts, however, this should come as no surprise – it’s just the price you pay when diplomatic norms are brushed off.
In the latest twist in the saga, Trump on Friday swung from tough to conciliatory, appearing to reverse threats made a week earlier to cancel a planned upcoming meeting with Xi in South Korea and impose an additional 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese goods.
Trump’s salvoes followed Beijing’s move a day earlier to expand export controls over strategic rare earth minerals and related technologies. Those in turn were triggered by Washington’s move late last month to expand sanctions on companies at least half owned by blacklisted firms on national security grounds.
Trump further extends tariff truce with China for 90 days
Trump further extends tariff truce with China for 90 days
“This is what happens when there’s a lack of clear communication. Both sides have misread the other,” said Zack Cooper, a fellow with the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
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“People in the US system did not understand how angry Beijing would be about the 50 per cent rule on September 29. And people in Beijing didn’t understand how angry Washington would be about its October 9 actions.”