“A VERY good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things were discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner. We want to see, for the good of both China and the US, an opening up of China to American business. Great progress made!” – President Donald Trump

After his repeated assertions of admiration for his counterpart in China failed to have any effect, Trump, in desperation, sent his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Switzerland to meet with Chinese representatives to negotiate a face-saving compromise in the escalating US-China tariff war.

This knee-bending has produced a positive outcome for US and global markets.

Some US media, attempting to justify the tariff war and to deflect from what most American economic experts see as an indefensible and potentially ruinous economic strategy, have argued that targeting China with tariffs is necessary to curb its geopolitical power and international influence by slowing its economic and technological development.

Other media have published sensationalised reports on job losses in China resulting from the tariff war, with a few venturing to postulate that the economic pressure could lead to a “China collapse” or trigger regime change.

What has been missing to date in the US media reports and analysis are the counter-Trump and counter-tariff-war responses of ordinary Americans experiencing the downside from the anti-China economic policies as well as from those opposed to what they see as the undermining of American economic leadership and global standing.

These responses can be found in some readers’ comments appearing in leading US digital media websites, which permit curated online comments on US foreign and domestic policy developments.

Counter-perspectives on trade gamble

The following is a selection from the New York Times, which has over 10 million subscribers:

“The Chinese are the grown-ups in the room. But good luck to them with their goal of getting clarity on what Trump actually wants by having these talks. Trump flip-flops, reverses himself, bails out of agreements; it is who he is and what he does, along the way bullying and insulting.”

“Chinese are playing high level chess. Trump is playing beginners checkers. Advantage China.”

“Your president has no cards – nor does he understand that in Confucian-based cultures, anger and insults are a loss of face, not leverage. Nor are such acts ever forgotten.”

There will be no winners resulting from Trump’s 145% tariff and the 125% tariffs China has levied on us. Our two economies are so intertwined that at some time, relatively near to now, the pain from both actions will slow, will cause the first inflation and then loss of jobs. This is now the Trump economy. People are not stupid and they will know who to blame if no deals are made with China, Canada, Mexico and the rest.”

“As someone who lived several years in Shanghai as well as Singapore, where I was chief political economist for ***** as well as a PhD in international political economy from Princeton, I would say Trump and his minions are lucky they are getting any meeting at all with the Chinese.”

“In the 80s, American capitalists and their politicians dreamed of conquering the world’s largest market but lost on the free market and now they are whining that China doesn’t play fair.”

“Why would any country make a trade deal with a felon with a track record of fraud, who has repeatedly shown he can’t be trusted and will break any treaties based on his latest capricious whim? The US made a huge mistake electing Trump. He’s not fit for the office.”

“Trump’s raison d’etre is to embrace perceived grievance and to require capitulation before his endless petulance. The Chinese will likely offer modest concessions to assuage his massive ego, thereby allowing him to claim a great victory for the American people while actually achieving humiliatingly little.”

“What Donald Trump is up to? That is the question of the moment. He changes his mind daily, hourly. Depends on what he just heard from ‘advisors’ such as John Voight (film tariffs), Laura Loomer, Tucker Carlson, Peter Navarro and any other such agent of chaos who crosses paths with Donald.”

“Looks to me that China has all the hard balls in their basket. A low-level meeting between a couple of guys that happened to be in the same city is not some breakthrough. China will talk when America shows itself to be serious, and when they can put forward some serious ideas, assuming America has anyone who can do that.”

“The Chinese still have the upper hand. If they still have it, they must have had it all along. So, why would our stable genius administration start a fight with China if they knew they didn’t have the cards? Is Trump trying to run up his bankruptcy number?”

“Trump begged like a dog for weeks… and will either get nothing at all or lose big time, even though he would declare victory either way. America has never been weaker in modern history and we have the most blatantly corrupt and incompetent federal government in modern history. What in Hades is collectively wrong with us?”

“While not a fan of China, it’s good to see anyone stand up to the bully – Trump. Too bad that our own Congress is too cowardly to think for themselves. It seems that a prime requirement to be a Republican nowadays is the inability to have an original thought.”

“Never thought that I would wish Xi’s regime well but, in this case, I hope he shows up Trump for what he is – an unprincipled blowhard. Yes, China should play hardball. America’s stupid behaviour under Trump deserves nothing less.”

“This is really no contest. China will send sharp and disciplined negotiators. They’ll eat the Trump team for lunch. The US economy has relied on consumer spending for decades. If that economic driver slows down it’ll pull the whole economy down with it.”

Why Trump needs a deal

What has been getting surprising traction and support in the comments is the hope – born out of despair with what is happening in the US – that the tariff war can continue indefinitely so that the pain it brings to Americans can lead to regime change within the US itself.

This opinions of the fiercest opponents of Trump’s domestic policies not only want China to stand firm in refusing to compromise with a “bully”. They also feel that the China resistance can be a factor to assist in their fight against what they perceive to be Trump’s “Make America Great Again” plutocratic, authoritarian and neo-liberal agenda.

For now, although the Trump administration is trying to spin that China is the side that is retreating first on the Switzerland talks, a growing number of Americans want China to hold firm and not to concede any concessions that Trump can announce as a victory in his blog site.

Lim Teck Ghee’s Another Take is aimed at demystifying social orthodoxy. Comments: [email protected]