Today, Trump made another comment about China on his personal social media platform. He emphasized that 'he has always liked China very much, but the attitude of the Chinese side is very tough, and it is very difficult to reach an agreement with them.' He also used many exclamation marks to express his strong emotions.
So what does this sudden comment reveal? It is likely that it reflects the failure of the recent American plan to 'pull a fast one.' In recent months, the U.S. has sharply increased tariffs to such a high level and then hoped to exchange concessions from the Chinese side through negotiations; isn't that just a no-cost deal?
Recently, what Trump and the U.S. side have repeatedly emphasized is the need for China to relax the export of strategic resources such as rare earths. At the same time, the U.S. is expelling Chinese students and expanding export controls against China. Such a duplicitous approach is likely too much to bear. The reason Trump is angry is probably that his so-called 'art of negotiation' hasn't worked, and the Chinese side hasn't made concessions as he wished. It is likely to be very difficult for the U.S. to trick the Chinese side into relaxing their rare earth strategy.
Finally, this reminds us of the past few days when White House officials repeatedly mentioned that China and the U.S. would have a call. Upon closer inspection, it seems to resemble Trump's approach in April, where it was entirely the U.S. side's one-sided wish to use media hype to push the Chinese side to the forefront of public opinion or to shift the blame onto them. From this perspective, the credibility of the so-called upcoming call is likely to be greatly diminished.
