Having claimed that China, and every other country, was going to crawl to the US, to "kiss his ass", begging for a trade deal, it is Trump's regime that has, instead had to capitulate, once more, this time to China, and agree to a ceasefire, for 90 days, in the tariff war. China, along with the EU, Canada, Mexico and others refused to be brow-beaten by Trump, and he was forced to capitulate, probably under pressure, also, from intelligent people within US state. They are continually, also, having to apply pressure against the inane, moronic policies that Trump, along with others, such as Peter Navarro, Musk, Kennedy et al, dream up, and which rapidly lead to chaos, much as also happened with Brexit, in Britain. Indeed, the only country that has abased itself in front of Trump, is Brexit Britain, in the form of its own mini-Trump, the gelatinous Starmer, who, not content with just kissing it, disappeared up Trump's arse.
The reason Trump capitulated to China, was quite clear. His tariffs imposed on China had meant that he had, basically, put an embargo on all Chinese imports, just as effectively as the US, under Biden, had put a physical embargo on Russian energy and other supplies, and had pressed other countries, via NATO, the G& and so on, to do likewise. The boycott of Russian energy, mostly damaged European economies, which saw the cost of its gas rise by more than 1,000%, sending Germany into recession. The US, with its own large supplies of oil and gas, by contrast, benefited, as global oil and gas prices rose, and US energy producers sold in to the world market at these higher prices.
But, Trump's embargo of Chinese manufactured goods has only, really hurt the US. Other countries have not imposed any such tariffs on Chinese goods, and so they have not faced the kind of emptying of shelves and hikes in prices that the US faces. Indeed, in the intervening period, China has strengthened its trade ties with many other countries, particularly those in Asia who now see the US as unreliable and unpredictable. The US accounts for only 15% of Chinese exports, many of which could, over time, be diverted to other markets, s China grows its trade with other countries, in Asia, Europe, Russia, Canada, Latin America, and Africa. Indeed, exports to the Us account for only 2.5% of Chinese GDP, so that a large part of those exports could simply be absorbed into its own expanding economy.
By contrast, Chinese imports constitute around 60% of the goods on the shelves of major US retailers such as Wal-Mart. The US faced those shelves being emptied in the next few weeks. Already, the ports in California, which receive the imports from China, report that they have no ships to unload. Trump, presented with those facts, claimed, in a show of bravado, not to care that this would lead to thousands of dockers, truckers and so on being laid off. Maybe he didn't. After all he represents the interests of a reactionary nationalist petty-bourgeois, which, as with Brexit, leads towards autarky. Yet, the reality is that whether Trump didn't care or not. The US was forced to do a deal with China.
Of course, we have seen this, before, when Trump capitulated to Mexico and Canada, when he first imposed his arbitrary tariffs. Within days, in those cases, he capitulated and withdrew them, but as that fact quickly spread across social media, and totally destroyed all of the narrative he and MAGA had been retailing that tariffs would somehow be paid by other countries, as against the reality that they are a tax on US consumers, he reimposed them. It can't be ruled out that he will do the same at the end of this 90 day ceasefire with China.
There is a lesson for everyone thinking of making any kind of deal with the US, which can be torn up by executive decree the next day.
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