Trump Orders China To ‘Open Up’ to Wall Street Looting
On Friday, President Donald Trump delivered a blistering attack on China accusing Beijing of breaking the terms of an agreement that was consummated just weeks earlier in Switzerland. Here’s what Trump posted on his Truth Social site on May 30, 2025:
Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high Tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to TRADE into the United States marketplace which is, by far, number one in the World. We went, in effect, COLD TURKEY with China, and it was devastating for them. Many factories closed and there was, to put it mildly, “civil unrest.” I saw what was happening and didn’t like it, for them, not for us. I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to business as usual. Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY! Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Ignoring the fact that China is in no economic trouble at all (Note: China’s GDP grew by 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025 while Chinese exports soared by more than 12% in March 2025), there are a number of things wrong with Trump’s statement, the most obvious of which is that there is no formal treaty or binding contract between the Trump administration and China on the Tariffs issue. None. Trump even admitted as much on Truth Social on May 10 and 11, when he said, “much agreed to,” though he highlighted the need to “paper it” or formalize it in writing.
What happened is this: China generously offered to sign a joint statement following the confab in Geneva where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent barged-in on a pre-scheduled meeting between Chinese and Swiss officials (that had nothing to do with US trade policy) and offered to slash Trump’s gigantic tariffs (to 30%) in exchange for nothing. (Bessent was obviously panicking over extreme market volatility on Wall Street and capitulated on the spot.) China made no concessions. Bessent basically put on sackcloth and ashes and publicly debased himself in front of the world for nothing. The only thing that was mutually agreed upon was “to establish a US-China trade consultation mechanism”. In other words, they agree to talk to each other in the future. Big deal.
And now Trump is saying China “has totally violated its agreement with us”?
What agreement, and what ‘violation’ is Trump talking about? No one even knows what he means??
In fact, his comments were so opaque, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had to clarify what he meant later in the day. On Friday, in an appearance on CNBC, Greer said that while China had reduced some tariff rates as agreed, it had not fully removed certain non-tariff countermeasures implemented during the trade war.
“They removed the tariff like we did but some of the countermeasures they’ve slowed on,” he said.
WTF? “Non-tariff countermeasures”? So, this isn’t even about the tariffs??
Nope. In fact, non-tariff barriers could refer to any number of things from sovereign regulations limiting foreign investment to subsidies to state-owned businesses. Here’s one explanation from analyst Arnaud Bertrand:
“This is why Trump is angry, as per the WSJ… after the talks in Geneva the U.S. decided to adopt new rules banning the use of Huawei’s new AI chips “anywhere in the world” (which, insanely, includes China), which China said “seriously undermined consensus reached at the high-level bilateral talks in Geneva.”
In response China is slow-walking approvals for export licenses of rare earths, and US automakers are warning the White House that “auto plants may have to idle in pandemic-style stoppages” as a result.
The WSJ report should help readers to see what is really going on below the surface. On the one hand, we have T
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