So, like, there’s this whole thing going on with Trump and China, right? People in Beijing are seeing ads for Apple’s iPhone 16 while crossing the street. China’s planning to slap a 34 percent tariff on all U.S. imports starting April 10 because Trump announced some “Liberation Day” tariffs.
There’s all these different groups in the Trump Administration fighting over what to do about China. You’ve got MAGA nationalists who want to fight China economically and maybe even militarily, old-school Republicans who don’t trust the Chinese Communist Party, and tech big shots like Elon Musk who don’t want things to get too heated. Trump himself hasn’t really said much about China lately, but he’s been making moves that look like he’s gearing up for a trade war:
– He’s going around saying China runs the Panama Canal and wants to buy ports from a Hong Kong company.
– He signed a memo called “America First Trade Policy” that tells the U.S. Trade Representative to check out the trade agreement with China.
– He slapped a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports because he’s worried about fentanyl. He’s also put a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum from everywhere and is threatening more tariffs on China.
– He’s not in a rush to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping to smooth things over.
– The USTR wants to charge Chinese ships up to $1 million per port visit and do other stuff to help U.S. shipping.
– Trump shut down some news outlets that were talking smack about China.
Even though Trump’s been pretty harsh, things don’t seem to be getting worse between the U.S. and China. People are wondering if Trump and Xi might make some sort of big deal. What’s going to happen with trade, military stuff, Taiwan, and U.S. buddies like the Philippines and Japan? Could there be a deal between Beijing and Washington? Who knows, man.
