Mike Whitney – The Unz Review May 18, 2025
When President Donald Trump imposed his sweeping tariffs on April 2, he had two main objectives:
- Reduce the trade deficits
- Bring jobs and manufacturing back to the United States
These were the stated goals but, as we soon found out, the real aim was to weaken China by preventing them from selling goods to US consumers. The Trump administration also used the tariffs to isolate China by providing incentives to the nations that agreed to reduce their trade with Beijing. In short, the tariffs were the main weapon in a trade war on a peer competitor who has overtaken the US in nearly every area of industrial and technological production.
Fortunately, Trump’s plan failed, and he was forced to ease the tariffs without achieving any of his main objectives. The reason we say “fortunately” is because the tariffs policy never served the interests of the American people. Quite the contrary, Americans are hurt by unilateral policies that ignore the rules of international trade and needlessly disrupt supply chains. All that does is push prices higher, reduce employment and slow growth. Besides, manipulating tariffs with the intention of destroying a rival violates a number of widely accepted WTO rules that protect the interests of everyone.
In contrast to the US, China acted in a way that was consistent with their broader social philosophy which is rooted in their unique interpretation of socialism. They took the moral high ground, acted on principle, and refused to give in to Trump’s coercion. They only initiated countermeasures in response to Trump’s tariffs blitz that completely ignored the rules articulated in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which stipulates that countries cannot arbitrarily exceed “bound rates” or selectively target one country with 145% tariffs. (which is the equivalent of an embargo.) By acting alone, Trump basically showed his contempt for the international system and for any legal constraints on his own power. This is from the Global Times:
The multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core is the cornerstone of international trade and plays an important role in global economic governance. All parties should resolve differences and disputes through equal-footed dialogue under the framework of the WTO, jointly uphold multilateralism and free trade, and promote the stability and smooth functioning of global industrial and supply chains. Global Times
In other words, Trump’s loss was a victory for the system of international trade. But it was also a victory for China because China ‘stuck to its guns’ and refused to bow to Washington’s bullying. Here’s more from Bloomberg:
Xi Jinping’s decision to stand his ground against Donald Trump could hardly have gone any better for the Chinese leader.
After two days of high-stakes talks in Switzerland, trade negotiators from the world’s biggest economies announced Monday a massive de-escalation in tariffs. In a carefully coordinated joint statement, the US slashed duties on Chinese products to 30% from 145% for a 90-day period, while Beijing dropped its levy on most goods to 10%.
The dramatic reduction exceeded expectations in China, and sent the dollar and stocks soaring — providing some much-needed market relief for Trump, who is facing pressure as inflation looks set to speed up at home. Chinese equities also surged. The deal ended up meeting nearly all of Beijing’s core demands. The elevated “reciprocal” tariff for China, which Trump set at 34% on April 2, has been suspended — leaving America’s top rival with the same 10% rate that applies to the UK, a longtime ally….
“This is arguably the best outcome that China could have hoped for — the US backed down,” said Trey McArver, co-founder of research firm Trivium China. “Going forward, this will make the Chinese side confident that they have leverage over the US in any negotiations.” , Swiss Info
Repeat: This is the best outcome that China could have hoped for — the US backed down”
US policy towards China is not only deeply immoral; it’s also counterproductive. Anyone who followed recent events in the foreign press, understands that the United States hurt itself very badly by its bullyboy tactics. What people outside the United States saw was an aging and enfeebled prize fighter enter the ring with a ferocious young contender who knocked him out in the first Round. In less than 6 weeks, Trump removed the bulk of the tariffs leaving just 30% in order to save face with his backers. In exchange, he got nothing from China at all. Beijing made no concessions other than allowing Trump to increase the tariff on Chinese imports from 20 to 30%, which means that the blue-collar men and women—who are Trump’s most ardent supporters—will pay an additional 10% at their favorite department store. So, while Trump promises massive new tax cuts for the uber-wealthy, working people just saw their taxes hiked by a whopping 10%. Here’s more from the Guardian:
Donald Trump will inevitably claim Monday’s temporary truce in the US-China trade war as a victory, but financial markets seem to have read it for what it is – a capitulation….
In other words, the president has caved. He may have been swayed by market wobbles but it seems more plausible that dire warnings from retailers about empty shelves – backed up by data showing shipments into US ports collapsing – may have strengthened the hands of trade moderates in the administration.
Confronted with warnings of a shortage of toys, Trump told reporters that children should be happy with “two dolls instead of 30 dolls”, and they might “cost a couple bucks more” than usual. But it is difficult to imagine even this most bullish of presidents withstanding the attacks that would come his way if he began to be seen as responsible for Covid-style shortages of key goods in the world’s largest economy.
Instead, the White House seems to have opted for tactical retreat. The China-US conflict was always the hottest theatre of confrontation in Trump’s trade war, with a longer history and deeper public support than his quixotic attacks on Mexico and Canada.
If Trump is indeed ready to give in even with Beijing, it sends a signal that some of the other aggressive aspects of his trade policy may be negotiable. Trump might claim China tariff victory – but this is Capitulation Day, Guardian
As far as Trump’s stated goals, (to reduce the trade deficits and bring jobs and manufacturing back to the US) the president failed on both counts. But in respect to his unstated goals, (weakening and isolating China) he also failed. And the reason he failed is due to three things:
- China was able to maintain global trade flows through diversification (They found other buyers for US-bound exports)
- China responded to the need for fiscal stimulus and government intervention quickly (which maintained their growth targets)
- China was able to inflict serious pain on the US by withholding its exports which left ports on the West Coast in deep distress.
What China achieved is as close to a complete victory as one could imagine. Even so, the equities markets skyrocketed shortly after a settlement was announced, which is why no one seems to care about Trump’s embarrassing miscue.
One of the oddities of the tariffs dust-up, was the fact that the Trump team never anticipated China’s retaliatory response. It’s actually amazing. The administration lives in such an information bubble that they thought China would cave in after their comical “Liberation Day” announcement. What were they thinking?
We know what Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was thinking because he made a number of public statements that the US had an edge on China because ‘we were the deficit country.’ Here’s what he said in an interview on CNBC:
“We are the deficit country. They sell almost five times more goods to us than we sell to them. So, the onus will be on them to take off these tariffs. They’re unsustainable for them.” He cited estimates that China could lose 5-10 million jobs if tariffs persist, highlighting China’s economic vulnerability.
This is idiocy. This is like saying that the ragamuffin panhandler on the street-corner has the advantage over the flush businessman with millions in the bank. The US is $36 trillion in debt while China has a $3 trillion surplus! How does ‘being broke’ give us ‘the advantage’. We’re lucky that China still accepts our currency at all, and yet, our Treasury Secretary thinks that being destitute gives us the “upper hand”. A man like this should not be Treasury Secretary. He has shown repeatedly that he doesn’t have the foggiest idea of how the economy works or what policies will help to advance American interests. Here’s Grok on Bessent:
Bessent’s public statements reflect a strategic focus on the U.S.’s deficit position as a negotiating advantage, supported by China’s economic vulnerabilities and the eventual Geneva deal. However, China’s export shift to Southeast Asia, transshipment tactics, and domestic economic resilience suggest he underestimated Beijing’s ability to weather tariffs, limiting the U.S.’s edge. Both sides faced costs, but China’s adaptability meant the deficit advantage was less decisive than Bessent claimed. (Grok)
That is a rather long-winded way of saying the Bessent was wrong about everything.
We should all be grateful that Trump gave up on his ‘tariffs strategy’ before it inflicted even more damage on the US economy. We can only hope that he will reflect on what has transpired in the last few weeks and seriously reconsider Washington’s self-defeating relations with China. The consensus view among western elites, media and the entire political class is that China’s rise represents a grave threat to America’s privileged position in the world order. It is this misguided assumption that shapes US policy on China and puts us all on course for a military confrontation. We must eradicate this destructive idea at its root and look for constructive ways that we can work with China on projects that help to improve security, increase prosperity and end war.
China is not our enemy, and they do not seek a confrontation with the United States. What China wants is what most ordinary Americans want; peace, security and “a human community with a shared future in an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world.” Those are the words of China’s Premier Xi Jinping. His sentiments may seem familiar to older readers who may recall the equally powerful words of President John F. Kennedy who said:
“For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
You Tube—John F. Kennedy’s Commencement Address at American University, ‘A Strategy for Peace’
Anyone who wants to carry on the way it is, with china etc controlling all the “goods”, is a globalist. Anyone who wants to manufacture in their own country is a nationalist. The jew hates nationalists. You’re all jew whores BECAUSE your crap is made in china. Understand now?
I believe Alex Jones much more: the retaliation was by the USA after years of unfair Chinese practices. Remember when Japan exported everything to us and was not even accepting our things, let alone having high tariffs?
Trump’s recent comment that Walmart should just eat the tariffs and not pass them on to its customers was an admission Americans will pay the tariffs, but it looks like his determination to stick with them as high as he can to fund his tax cuts for the rich, suggests he’s prepared to bump heads with some of America’s major company CEOs to continue the tax cuts. A capitalist taking on capital is an unwise battle. Capital bribes the dregs of the world and it broke the unions so it will break a President’s power quite easily.
Trump should have called it Libation Day. When he brings America down we can all celebrate by getting pissed.
Indeed..
But it’s all abject nonsense isn’t it….every piece of silicon valley tek in the yankee home is manufactured in china or by Chinese affiliates…you could argue that some of it’s made in taiwan… but the difference is notional..
the liteon factory mega manufacturer of all you IT tat… for all the big boys and they have done so for thirty years… they even put special chips on the server boards Amazon use so that they can spy on the military and stock exchanges…
This of course is one of the absurdities of Drumpf and his Tek Bro technocrats and why you have to call bullshit on the whole sorry mess…
Only problem is they’re both in on it. What these alt news roman catholic CIA-KGB agents like Whitney don’t tell you is that US & China are governed by the same global allied consortium of anti-white Jews & Commies pretending to be ‘enemies’. You have to remember it was the US that relocated their manufacturing base to China in the first place decades ago–thus proving its all a coordinated scheme between US/China.. Secondly there are no ‘tariffs’, its just another conjob to raise prices.
Excellent factual and unbiased read – Thank You.
Not mentioned at all is the replacement of the communist tag team that was trying to destroy this country, without seeming to. Trump is president because they made him look good, and he IS a better alternative! Don’t miss AT ALL the daily reports of hundreds of THOUSANDS of illegal immi-vaders (from other countries), in convoys even.
But hey, China right? They are what they are today, because of our CAPITALISM, shipped over there and sold to us for fear of the pollution caused by all those factories, and rightfully so, we can breathe easier, and see further. Commi’s can pound it, call me anything you want. He lost? Not in my book. Tariffs? I kinda like the idea! NOT gonna pay more, and DON’T care who likes it! Yes, bought a shirt from them recently, didn’t know where it was coming from, or that it would take months. Thought for sure it was shot down over N.C., and I did finally get it, but I’m done. Thus endth the days rant.
A commenter on a Sean Foo video raised another good point about Trump’s tariffs. If the tariff is greater than 100% and the exporting company did pay it, that’s the same as the exporting company sending their stuff over for free then paying a little extra on top so the importer will take it. That would be madness. A purchase tax affects the poorest the most because they spend their incomes on necessities, not invest it or save it in tax-free schemes, so the target customer expected to pay for it are the ones least able to do so.
When Trump’s projected $5trillion tax cuts are voted on soon they’re expected to pass, so the US will have to have to pay for them in other ways, most likely money creation, so hyperinflation looks like part of their future. It’s like Trump and his rich pals are looting the US treasury before the country collapses.
Chaos tariff king Trump has caused the Japan long bond to collapse:
https://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2025/5/20/saupload_Japan-JGB-yield-2025-05-19_40-year.png
MM–you have completely misunderstood the Trump quote, and the problem is your deaf materialism. It falls with a dull thud
Whitney = Commie
I said Donald Hitler was an idiot. You can’t fix a system that was set up by Nazi banks and corporation lining their pockets while their political Nazi muppets bankrolled two generations of skewed trade with an unbelievable amount of debt.
While some claim Donald Hitler was trying to balance the apple cart, the truth is much more sinister.
As pointed out, this was an economic blockade, just like ships being blocked from unloading in the US and EU, so said ships could not return to China.
Nazi Amerika has zero interest in competing with China. The Nazis don’t even want a fairer deal, no, the truth is, they want China crushed. Don’t think about the name China, or Nazi notions of what China is, because if Nazi US and Nazi UK has their way, the Chinese would be treated like Palistinians. They would just murder them, even genocide them, and Russians as well.
Nazi UK just signed away their sovereignty with a trade deal which demands the UK prevent any Chinese widget from being used in the UK, or sold onto others. The Chinese have stated that any country which deliberately enters into a deal, that damages China’s economy activity, they will take actions against that country. So Nazi UK is screwed, so how will China honour it’s £600 billion rail deal?
The Nazis won’t stop until the Chinese are eating their noodles in mud. This is the Nazi way, pure hatred.
So who does America owe all that debt to?
There lies at least half the problem.
“So who does America owe all that debt to?
There lies at least half the problem.”
It doesn’t owe it to anyone. The “government” “owes” it to the jew corporations that “lent” it to them. ie. The “government” took out huge loans from blackrock etc to “pay” the faggots that “work” for them. The loans are at hugely disadvantageous rates for the taxpayer and hugely advantageous to the jew, who controls both sides. blackrock will NEVER try to get it back, as long as it can keep feeding off the taxpayer. That’s what jews do – they’re bloodsuckers who NEVER EVER let go. And so, it doesn’t matter what the “debt” is and it never did. “America” doesn’t “owe” it in any case, it’s the “government” that’s in “debt” to the jew. It’s another shit and absurd human made turd that the people are paying for their own dictators. They seem to like it.
C’mon, Carl. Learn how ro spell my name correctly. I’ll help you. It’s A-D-O-L-F. Got it, Carl? Good.
Fascinating. The number of people who support the House of Cards called China. Their State Capitalist system is on the verge of collapse and it is just a matter of time before they collapse.
And, by the way, they can’t win a war against the US, no matter what propaganda they spout. And as to the point about the US being their biggest debtor. The moment the US decides to default on its debt kiss China goodbye.
In 2000 I visited a pipe mill called Lone Star Steel in Texas as a consultant for imported drill, casing and line pipes that were produced in Columbia and were re-stenciled after arrival, quench and tempering and QC inspections.
The original and mandatory “Made in Colombia by …..” was applied again in smaller letters too but it simply would disappear again as the paint faded far too quick. What was left was “Product of USA” and “under license by Lone Star Steel”. That was also at the time when US embargo’s were called against Iran but miraculously “American” API pipes always found their way there via Belgium or Holland first and hardly anyone seemed to bother as deals were made. Chinese steel pipes entered the American market too around that time but with such an inferior quality in steel that only around 15% of the imported batch made it and could be licensed/sold but still offered a great enough profit margin to those American companies who ordered them and the rest was re sold as irrigation pipes or scrap.
Lone Star Steel which once was a huge pipe mill in its glorious days in the 50/60ties but looked more like a dust covered museum in 2000 as most production of the facility had ceased but the amount of “Presidents, vice presidents and Directors” of Lone Star Steel Sales and its contractors had increased greatly – to market imported pipes as (sort of) North Americas very own.
So whats a trade war with China then, or to rephrase, what is it that America and Trump are really trading or have to offer? Sales strategies and great deals with imported products and memories of a long lost but highly celebrated past?
They owe it to the Saudis, China, Japan, and other countries who are willing buyers, because they are Nazi regimes, and there are those who are coerced through the threat of economic damage, terrorism, assassinations, and coups. Basically a global extortion racket.
The next owner of Nazi US debt, is the US Federal Reserve Bank which is owned by the 7, or so, largest US banks. They keep buying US regime debt, because the debt requirement is so large, the rest of the world can’t fund it, or now simply refuse to fund it.
So the banks, in cahoots with the MIC, prints money out of thin air, to fund the US military and the corporations who underpin the military. Saudi just offered to spend a massive sum on new arms. This was probably soft extortion, given that Saudi is a BRICS member, and shouldn’t be supporting the great Satan.
On top of the $35/37 trillion debt, is the total debt, which was calculated to over $200 trillion, 20 plus years ago, so today it must be over $300 trillion today.
So total debt includes unfunded debt, such as pensions, state medical care, decommissioning nuclear power stations, or building them. So some consultancy will say: ‘You will need to build 10 nuclear power stations over the next 20 years, and decommission 15 nuke power stations, that’s a lot of money which is unfounded. Okay, it might be in someone’s make believe budget outlook, but the funding doesn’t exists.
It’s like flood defences, the imaginary funding is stated, but then never appears. Hence the country falls apart.
I wonder why that Brazilian navy sailing ship couldn’t get out of reverse? It was built in the 80s, so probably refitted since then, with hitech electronics kit? Was this jammed? It looks bad on the port of NY, that said tug nearby, didn’t have a line on her.
Antiochus Epiphanes=👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🤝