Chess v checkers: US and China blunder into stalemate

The TOI correspondent from Washington: Pride and prejudice stand in the way of China and the US making the first move to break the trade and tariff stand-off that is starting to strangle global commerce. The Trump White House is saying the ball is in China’s court to initiate talks and Beijing is demanding “respect” to kickstart negotiations as the two sides slid further into a swampy stalemate, threatening to take the world down with them.
“China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted on Tuesday as both countries began courting trading partners and blocs, with many countries, including India, Japan, and Vietnam, caught in the crossfire. The US also increased tariff on Chinese imports to 245 percent, a meaningless hike that Beijing dismissed as a joke since even at 145 per cent the exports make no economic sense.
It is now boiling down to which side can hold out longer and take punishment before one of them blinks. “China needs America’s money, but US needs Chinese goods more. China isn’t as desperate to reach a deal as you make it sound. We’re curious to see who holds out longer: a country that prints money or a country that manufactures goods,” Hu Xijin, a Chinese media influencer, clapped back at Leavitt’s remark.
Prospects of New Delhi gaining from the clash looks sketchy as Washington is now turning its attention to choking off transshipment of products that China is trying to export through third countries like India, Mexico and Canada. The routing of six plane loads of iPhones — nearly 1.5 million units — from India is now attracting scrutiny amid reports that some of the stash was manufactured in China and transshipped via India to get around the high tariff. There are also questions about tariffs on Chinese components in the phones assembled in India.
It appears that President Trump may have intervened directly to help Apple fly out the iPhone consignments considering he publicly said “I helped Tim Cook, recently, and that whole business” without conclusively identifying what he helped him with. Staving of a shortage or doubling of price of a high-profile item like iPhone would have made headlines, but the first uptick in prices are already starting to show up.
Although there are no sign of any shortages yet from what is virtually a blockade of Chinese-made goods with high taxes some sellers have begun tagging a “Trump tariff” to the final price. Dame, a sexual wellness company that sells adult toys, added what it explicitly called a $5 “Trump tariff surcharge” to all its Made in China products, its CEO Alexandra Fine telling TV network that the “The intention…was to remind people that this is an extra tax on us. I wanted people to understand … that it’s because of political decisions that were made.”
Meanwhile, Trump, despite saying he had no problem with the leaders of China and Vietnam meeting this week, complained that they were probably figuring out how to “screw” the US, even his administration’s claim that 70 countries have lined up to sign trade deals with Washington has so far produced zilch by way of formal agreements. There is now a hint of desperation to produce something, with the US President announcing that he himself will take part in talks with a visiting Japanese delegation led by its trade minister.
“Japan is coming in today to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and “TRADE FAIRNESS.” I will attend the meeting, along with Treasury & Commerce Secretaries. Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Public opinion in the US remains split between the MAGA faithful, who believe Trump is a genius who has cornered China, and liberal critics who believe he has painted himself into a corner. A MAGA talking head who claimed that Trump has managed to isolate China from the rest of the world (while the Chinese leader was visiting Vietnam) was reminded by a liberal opposite that Japan and South Korea are negotiating trade deals with China and the EU is eliminating Chinese EV tariffs. “I’m concerned you’re not familiar with which country is being isolated — doesn’t look like it’s China,” he said.