President Trump has joined the camp opposed to using hardball trade tactics against the People’s Republic of China. Too much inducing of anxiety that way lies.
Deal, no deal, somewhat approaching a deal, no chance of a deal that satisfies reasonable U.S. security requirements without also handing the Chinese Communist Party microchips and other weapons with which to pummel us—exactly what’s going on is unclear.
Another pause
One fact does seem to be emerging from the fog. That the entire U.S.–China tariff-and-trade landscape has been converted into the equivalent of the TikTok no-deal deal, featuring ever-receding deadlines and ever-continuing pretense that the CCP is negotiating or may be negotiating or may one day be convinced to begin negotiating in good faith.
Bloomberg reports (August 11, 2025):
President Donald Trump extended a pause of higher tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days into early November, stabilizing trade ties between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump signed an order extending the truce through Nov. 10, deferring a tariff hike set for Tuesday. The de-escalation first took effect when the US and China agreed to reduce tit-for-tat tariff hikes and ease export restrictions on rare earth magnets and certain technologies….
The extension will ease worries of a renewed tariff war that threatens to choke off trade between the US and China. An escalation between Washington and Beijing earlier this year shook global financial markets.
It will also give the countries more time to discuss other unresolved issues such as duties tied to fentanyl trafficking that Trump has levied on Beijing, American concerns about Chinese purchases of sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil and disagreements around US business operations in China.
President Trump says that the trade negotiations are going fine. In his August 11, 2025 executive order on “Further Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Ongoing Discussions With the People’s Republic China,” the president said that “the PRC continues to take significant steps toward remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements and addressing the concerns of the United States relating to economic and national security matters.”
He told reporters that “we’ve been dealing very nicely with China.”
Faith
Back in May, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned country governments to negotiate outstanding trade questions in good faith. If not, the U.S. would suspend negotiations and simply impose what it deemed suitable tariffs on uncooperative trading partners.
