Trump announced the tariffs on weekends when Chinese families celebrated the New Year and invited God for happiness to their homes.
Currently, bright red lanterns are waving through the empty Beijing streets, as most workers have left their native places during the largest holiday of the year.
China’s reaction was much more muted than in Canada or Mexico. The Ministry of Commerce has announced plans to take legal actions and use the World Trade Organization to get out of the complaint.
But this poses a slight threat to Washington. The WTO dispute settlement system has been stopped effective since 2019, when Donald Trump – in his first term – blocked the appointment of judges for appeals.
As the holiday appeals to the loved ones, the party officials return to Beijing and to work – they have solutions.
In recent weeks, officials have encouraged the signs that the Trump administration could want to keep the relationship stable, especially after the two leaders of Mr. Trump called a “great phone” last month.
As long as China remains calm, perhaps in the hope of making an agreement with Washington to avoid further tariffs and maintaining relations between the two largest economies in the world with a spiral of -control.
But some believe that this cannot last, because both Republicans and Democrats view China as the country’s biggest foreign policy and economic threat.
“Mr. Trump’s unpredictability, his impulsivity and recklessness will inevitably lead to significant upheaval in bilateral relations,” says Vu Sinbo, Professor and Director of the Fudan University Center.
“In addition, his team contains quite a lot of hawks, even extreme hawks in China. It is inevitable that bilateral relations will face serious violations over the next four years.”
China is definitely concerned about its relations with the US and the damage that the trade war can do with its slow economy.
But it will also look for ways to use the current political pendulum to overcome the international community its own way and within the sphere of influence.
