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the US should stop creating confusion....

As the world watches tariff brinkmanship unfold between the US and China, analysts have cast doubt on the truth of US President Donald Trump's claim in a magazine interview that China's President Xi Jinping called him.

Mr Trump told Time magazine that tariff talks were taking place between the US and China, an assertion he repeated to reporters as he was leaving the White House to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome.

Beijing denied any talks were taking place.

"China and the US are NOT having any consultation or negotiation on #tariffs," China shot back in a statement posted by the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

"The US should stop creating confusion."

In response to Mr Trump's comments to Time, several China analysts told the ABC they did not think Mr Xi would have called his US counterpart.

King's College London business lecturer Xin Sun said it was "highly unlikely" Mr Xi called Mr Trump because to call him without invitation would imply Mr Xi would make concessions under pressure.

"For any political leader in China, this would have very serious consequences for their own political stability," Dr Sun said.

"It basically means that it signals weaknesses and vulnerability to possible political opponents."

cott Kennedy, a senior adviser on Chinese business and economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in the US, agreed with that assessment.

"I don't think the two have communicated directly with each other since they spoke on January 17," said Dr Kennedy, referring to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that confirmed the pair spoke when Mr Trump was re-elected as US president.

"The US president recently has made several comments implying momentum in talks with China and others in order to reassure markets," he added. 

"There may be low-level communications, but very unlikely to be ongoing negotiations."'A preventative move'

China responded to Mr Trump's imposition of 145 per cent import taxes by placing 125 per cent tariffs on American goods.

While there is little clarity on what if any deals and negotiations are underway between the two countries, there have been some signs of some de-escalation in recent days after China quietly exempted some US goods from the import levies.

Mr Trump has also imposed a raft of tariffs on other countries, which have been scrambling to come to agreements with the US.

In the Time magazine interview, Mr Trump also said the US had made 200 tariff deals and expected to have them signed off in three or four weeks.

"We're meeting with China. We're doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I've made all the deals," he said.

However, Dr Sun pointed out that not a single major trading partner had confirmed such deals had been signed.

"Given those unsubstantiated claims Trump and his administration has made over the past few weeks, I think there is a strong political incentive for the Trump administration to make the claim that China is in negotiation with the US," he said.

"Doing so would probably constitute a preventative move in case Trump would need to make further retreats regarding tariffs on China."

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Bethany Allen said Chinese authorities would be unlikely to deny a call took place between the two leaders if that was true.

"Trump is known for off-handed comments that may be somewhat less than precise," she said. 

"Messaging on the Chinese side, however, is always extremely precise and controlled. I think it is possible that Trump may be referring to some kind of contact — perhaps substantive, perhaps not — between US and Chinese officials." 

On Saturday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing stands on the side of international rules regarding US-imposed tariffs and opposes protectionism.

Mr Wang said Beijing would seek solidarity with other countries on the tariff situation and exposes "extreme egoism" and the bullying of certain countries, a veiled reference to the US.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-27/unlikely-china-president-xi-called-us-president-trump/105219448

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

TOON AT TOP BY MATT GOLDING, SMH 27/04/2025

self-sabotage....

 

Washington's extreme tariff strikes will backfire

 

By PENG DELEI 

 

In the world of geopolitics, "maximum pressure" is fast becoming shorthand for "maximum miscalculation". The United States, in its latest attempt to strong-arm China, has unveiled a new round of tariff hikes and scrapped the longstanding duty-free threshold for small packages shipped from China. The result is the highest tariff wall in the history of Sino-US trade. It's impressive in scope, if not in strategy.

Behind these moves lies a persistent delusion: that the United States has long been short-changed by global trade. Acting on this grievance, Washington is wielding tariffs like a hammer, hoping every economic challenge is a nail. But in doing so, it is chipping away not at China's economic resolve, but at the very foundations of the global system it once helped build. Flouting World Trade Organization rules and reneging on hard-won commitments, the US is undermining the rules-based multilateral trade order and accelerating the erosion of global economic stability.

This strategy is not just short-sighted — it's self-sabotaging. For every tariff slapped on Chinese goods, there's a ripple effect across global supply chains, many of which still flow through Chinese ports, factories, and innovation hubs. Yes, the damage to Chinese companies is real — but it's also diminishing. China has been here before. And every time Washington pulls this stunt, the world gets a little better at working around it.

What the US has grossly underestimated is China's capacity to weather economic storms. With the world's most comprehensive industrial system and unparalleled supply chain integration, China's economy has what strategists might call "strategic depth". It's hard to outmaneuver a country that produces nearly everything, and usually at scale. More important, China has resources — both natural and technological — that are essential to industries Washington cares deeply about. For instance, rare earth minerals.

Indeed, in rare earths, the US faces a paradox: It wants to decouple from China, but its defense and tech industries still depend heavily on Chinese exports. That's the economic equivalent of trying to fly without wings.

Meanwhile, China has been busy future-proofing its trade strategy. The days of heavy dependence on the US market are over. China's exports to the US dropped from 19.2 percent in 2018 to 14.7 percent in 2024, while its trade ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the Belt and Road partners, and Latin America have deepened dramatically. For five straight years, China and ASEAN have topped each other's trade charts, and in Latin America, China is now the second-largest trade partner and third-largest investor. This diversified portfolio functions like a financial hedge: It spreads the risk and blunts the blow of any single market's tantrums.

Domestically, China is leaning into its own market muscle. With a vast and growing market, rising consumption and a hefty government push, the country is building what might best be described as a "shock-absorbing economy". Add in the AI-powered rise of cross-border e-commerce, and you've got a trade machine that's not just surviving the pressure — it's evolving under it.

So what has the US gained by turning up the heat? Certainly not leverage. If anything, its actions have pulled back the curtain on an increasingly aggressive economic nationalism — one that's less about protecting workers than about asserting dominance. The trouble is, coercion doesn't play well in the 21st century. As China has repeatedly made clear, threats and pressure aren't the way to engage with a sovereign nation. You can't bully your way into a balanced trade relationship, and you definitely can't tariff your way into economic supremacy.

In the end, Washington's maximum pressure campaign isn't just failing — it's boomeranging. And the harder it pushes, the more obvious the truth becomes: you can't win a trade war when you've already declared war on trade itself.

The author is a professor at the Law School of East China University of Science and Technology. The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202504/27/WS680d6b0da3104d9fd3821c4f.html

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.