Well, you can certainly bet that Beijing is smirking and if not laughing with glee over the whole situation. Their hard line stance against Trump looks to be paying off now as the US administration is forced to back down on the high tariffs applied against China. And one can reasonably assume that this will continue to be their tactic in dealing with the US president until his term ends. That is to be patient and ride out the storm.
The Chinese commerce ministry is out with some remarks now, in responding to the tariffs change:
- Closely monitoring relevant measures by the US
- Will decided at the right time on adjusting countermeasures
- Urges the US to abandon the concept of unilateral tariffs
- China willing to hold another round of trade talks with the US
- Expects “candid” trade talks in the near future
It doesn’t seem that Beijing is going to go so far to kick Trump when he is down. That especially since the US president is sure to try and find ways to hit back hard again, either through Section 301 or Section 232 investigations.
But as mentioned before, any other avenue will require arguably six to twelve months before an official ruling is given and the tariffs approved. Sure, Trump can speedrun that by playing the presidential card but any shortcuts will surely invite legal challenges and open up another whole can of worms when the time comes.
For now though, it’s 15% tariffs for the next 150 days. And this is one that doesn’t look likely to be extended further with Congress not having the constitutional appetite to do so
