News this week that the United States and China have agreed to a 90-day reduction in tariffs amid ongoing negotiations is the clearest sign yet that President Donald Trump’s strategy is having its intended effect – and that Washington holds all the leverage in trade talks with Beijing.
The news came following a weekend of negotiations with Chinese officials in Geneva, Switzerland, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. China and the United States will both slash tariffs by 115 percent while talks are ongoing. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will drop to 30 percent, while Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods will drop to 10 percent. Both figures represent a notably better deal for the United States than when former President Joe Biden was in office.
The news has sent markets soaring and the corporate media scrambling to come up with a new attack strategy for Trump’s tariffs. The president described the breakthrough as a “total reset,” a major victory for American workers and businesses, and an admission of weakness from China. Several specialists I spoke to for this column agreed with that analysis.
“I have seen claims in the Western media that the Chinese economy is ‘resilient’ and that the United States is only hurting itself,” said former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official Luli Jiao-long. “Beijing could not have hoped for more favorable coverage. These claims are entirely untrue.”
In reality, Trump’s trade pressure has exposed deep structural flaws in the Chinese economy that have become more pronounced in recent years. Liu Shijin, the former Deputy Director of the Development Research Center, the economic advisory body which recommends policies to the Central Committee of the CCP, pointed to data showing that the Chinese middle class has decreased from more than half the population to less than one-third during President Xi Jinping’s tenure. Over that same time period, the share of wealth held by individuals linked to the government increased from 75 percent to 90 percent. Liu called this a “structural deviation” in the Chinese economy that has Beijing deeply concerned.
Dr. Shufen Youlan, a retired economist and lecturer, also stressed in an interview with me that Chinese leaders understand how much the country’s economy depends on exports. “[Former Chinese leader] Deng Xiaoping decided that most produced goods would be exported,” he explained. “Jiang Zemin [Deng’s successor] only accelerated this trend. Revenue from exports in foreign currency finances China’s defense, internal security, and the CCP’s entire budget.”
Trump’s tariffs should be viewed against this backdrop of a deepening Chinese domestic economic crisis. While inflation has come down in the United States and Trump has announced a stunning $7 trillion in private-sector investment since he took office, things appear to be moving in the opposite direction in China.
The country is currently mired in a serious real estate slump, along with a mounting debt crisis. Delinquency rates on consumer debt are now rising to levels not seen since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
Reports indicate that Chinese courts are backlogged with millions of retail debt cases, and banks are selling off debt. In total last year, banks sold 1.18 trillion yuan in delinquent consumer loans, compared to only 222.5 billion yuan between 2014 and 2016. Caixin Global, an economics-focused Chinese media outlet, recently described the debt problem as an “acute worry” that could become worse in the months ahead.
The threat of U.S. tariffs has dramatically ramped up the pressure on the Chinese government. Professor Youlan believes Trump’s 145 percent tariffs could have eliminated a minimum of 20 million jobs linked to Chinese exports. “Along with subcontractors, this number could be twice or perhaps three times as much,” he said. “Beijing saw as many as 60 million jobs at risk, which is why they came to the negotiating table.”
Xi’s outreach to his neighbors was another sign of Beijing’s panic over the prospect of a prolonged trade war. Less than a week after Trump first began ratcheting up tariffs, the Chinese leader flew to Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam to attempt to create a united Southeast Asian front against the United States. These efforts ultimately failed, forcing the talks in Geneva over the weekend.
The current tariff drawdown is temporary, but it is nonetheless a victory for the United States. Xi appears to understand that a new agreement – one that is a better deal for American producers and consumers – is the only life preserver for his sinking economy.
Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.
We found out on 5-9-2025 it was China that reached out President Trump to talk about tariffs more than a month ago.
It’s not hard to see that China is a tissue paper tiger with far deeper problems than America has.
I find that interesting and quite humorous because we have been hearing from the left how great everything of the Chinese system was.
That joke has landed squarely in the lap of the party of the left. Entirely because of the firm hold of reality of the bad orange man the left has fought so long and hard to destroy
That may come undone. They’re finding Chinese communication devices buried in the green energy products China is selling solar panels and wind turbine stuff. Stay tuned it’s not just the quote unquote weather balloon
The doom and gloom lefties the negative leaders of this country are so upset about the deals Trump has reached with the tariff policies, they can’t stand it. Right now they are distributing “what if”policies. What if the prices rise what if the various benefit dept remove the fraud and waste. People will suffer. They are now in the forecast business. They don’t want to give Trump’s policies a chance. 39 injunctions have been filed. Why? To keep Trump from succeeding. And yet he succeeds in spite of their opposition. Why? Because the people have seen their lies their manipulation the destruction they are doing to this country. Trump’s visit to the Arab states. Showed the world the statesman, peacemaker he is. Not the warmonger the left tried to make of him. He is a common sense, normal peace loving person just like millions of his followers are. Only the left/democrats haven’t managed to see that. They tried to make him a Hitler and his followers Nazis. Only it had the opposite effect. They haven’t figured Trump out yet and if they have they don’t know him and are failing miserably to understand him because they believe in total power and total hatred for anything MAGA. Biden was beholden to China, Trump is his own man. He cares for people of all countries like all the people in America. He follows the law. You break it you are punished including those who came here illegally. We are a country of laws not a country of making laws as we go along. If we were it would be chaos like the democrats do every day. Demonstrating for lawlessness, anti America and for “what ifs”. Dont put the cart before the horse people.
No economic system based on Communism ever breeds anything other than misery and oppression of the masses, while enriching the political class.
China could not manufacture or sell anything without USA making it possible. We’ve created the mess we are in.
Middle Easters and Asians respect STRENGTH. That’s why Trump is getting things done while Pansy Biden let everyone run over us! Plus, of course, he was getting bribes from China and Ukraine and Russia! Trump is an international businessman; Biden NEVER had a real job in his life. He just sucked from the government teat!
China is a communist country and are enemies of America, the no good Democrats took money from them along with Biden and his son! The sorry Democrats also allowed them to buy land near military bases and bring their soldiers over our borders! Democrats should be tried for treason and deported from a country they want to destroy!
We made China and NOW we have to take them down……for our own good AND for the people of China who will NEVER prosper under CCP rule.
Tariff revenue is 2B per day
Since China has a habit of not doing what is agreed to, 90 days is a good idea. Keep watching to see if changes are implemented and do not renew unless China complies.
90 days is not enough for businesses to plan, but there is more chance of some success..
Must the keep trade going for the China economy is not great shape! At same time it improve US economy!
over as soon as he said he’d do it; they all CAME TO HIM!
Hopefully now the Chinese government will understand that America is not the pushover they thought we were. If we could only convince the American consumer to at least slow down the purchase of anything made in Communist China, we could win big. I won’t buy a Communist product if I have ANY alternative. We need to stop looking short term and start looking long term at the outcome economically. MAGA!
I don’t like the pause! The say we are their ENEMY so we should quit sending them money and treat them like the ENEMY also!! We need to take them at their word that we are the ENEMY and decouple NOW. They are making inroads toward decoupling from us. If they decouple before we can, we will be in a world of hurt!! Stop trade and that damn Tic Toc that’s subverting our young impressionable minds and the weak-minded adults.
Some readers wanted to know the sources of my May 17 comment about Trump blinking first on tariffs. Here’s a partial list, with liberal publications excluded: Wall Street Journal, April 9, “Trump Blinks, Again, On Tariffs, For Now.” The Economist, April 9, “Trump’s tariff pause brings investors relief—but worries remain.” Business Insider, April 10, “Why Trump Blinked on Tariffs Just Hours After They Went Into Effect.” CNBC, April 24, CNBC, “Daily Open: Trump blinks first in trade war he started.” Bloomberg, April 25, “Trump Blinks as US Signals China Tariff De-Escalation.” Barron’s, May 12, “Trump Blinked ‘Big Time’ on China Trade, Taking Worst Case Off Table.” Stockhead, May 14, “Trump blinks first–global markets exhale after six weeks of economic fever.”
The ccp cannot be trusted. They have been stealing from us for decades and they’ve been trying to tank the US dollar for just as long. They are being allowed to buy our companies state-side, and farmland near military bases, power stations, and a plethora of other infrastructure-dependent entities. Part of any deal should require them to stop stealing our patents and to divest themselves of all owned companies and properties in the USA. They have no business owning anything on American soil.
Fortunately the Media lies doesn’t change the truth so China had to deal after all!
We still need Chinese EV battery tech alone since they have battery that can charge in 7 min
The 90 day tariff pause simply means Saint Trump merely talked the Chinese into letting us kick the can down the road 3 months, nothing more.
We need to stop allowing ourselves to be led by propagandized narrative such as the promise regarding ending taxation on Social Security. That was NOT included in the “big beautiful budget bill”, nor was anything done to reduce our out of control debt. Nor does it appear that “we will leave Ukraine behind immediately upon my taking office”, happened.
While the author is entitled to his opinion, most financial publications say Trump blinked first in the trade war. His opening 145% tariff salvo was meant to intimidate China, but Xi called his bluff. China didn’t come begging. Financial indicators and consumer sentiment started heading south in April and Trump’s own advisors told him he he needed to back off. At the same time, Chinese exports increased sharply in April, as they diverted trade to other Asian countries and Europe. Since China doesn’t pay the tariffs, I’m not sure why the author thinks a 30% federal tax on consumers represents a “noticeably better deal” than when Biden was in office. Walmart has already started raising prices.