Trump is waiting for Xi to call. The Chinese see it differently
By Kylie Atwood, Kayla Tausche, Kevin Liptak, Jeremy Herb and Alayna Treene, CNN
Updated 9:03 AM EDT, Fri April 11, 2025
A tariff reprieve from President Donald Trump sent global markets soaring on Wednesday, with the White House saying it’s been in touch with dozens of countries about striking deals, lining up calls and meetings in the coming weeks.
But one country was conspicuously absent from any outreach: China
As the rest of the world received a 90-day respite, Trump escalated tariffs on China, saying the US will now charge an extra 145% on all Chinese goods that arrive in the US. In response, Beijing ratcheted up its own tariffs on American goods Friday to 125%, and the country’s leader — who Trump is urgently working to engage — warned China was “not afraid” of a prolonged trade conflict.
In private discussions hours before China announced new retaliatory tariffs, the Trump administration warned Chinese officials against such a move, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
The Chinese were also told – once again – that Chinese President Xi Jinping should request a call with US President Donald Trump.
Instead, US officials woke up to news of increased Chinese tariffs and no request for a leader level call. Xi also made comments that only dug him in further.
“For over 70 years, China’s development has relied on self-reliance and hard work — never on handouts from others, and it is not afraid of any unjust suppression,” Xi said according to state broadcaster CCTV during his meeting with the Spanish prime minister.
An unprecedented trade war between the world’s two economic superpowers is quickly taking shape, with both countries waiting for the other to blink.
Don’t start none. Won’t be none.
The Chinese are always playing the long game.
A poster who lives in China on another blog wrote this:
April 11, 2025 at 12:56 pm
@rikyrah:
@Old Man Shadow:The trouble for MAGA is that the PRC spent the past 8 years preparing for the contingency of a US driven trade & tech decoupling, all the while itself de-risking from the US as much as possible (often forced by the US sanctions & tech restrictions). At this point, Xi & the CPC leadership, & indeed most of the population, feel they can made do w/o direct trade w/ the US (& tolerate the associated pain). So Xi is in no hurry to engage w/ Trump. Not after Trump essentially imposed a trade embargo.
Trump/Bessent can try the financial warfare lever, which is why delisting Chinese companies from the US exchanges are being floated. It’s an empty threat because all that will hurt are the international investors who bought the ADRs of these Chinese companies, which do not even confer any ownership rights. Mere rumors about delisting sent the shares of these Chinese companies (mostly in tech) traded in Hong Kong soaring. Any Chinese company that has only listed in the US will be scrambling to do secondary listings elsewhere: Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, etc.
What’s left then is sanctions on using dollar finance, possibly even seizing the PRC’s sovereign reserves in US Treasury notes or US based assets. That would be WMD that Wall Street & the plutocrats will probably dissuade Trump from using. In any case, the PRC has built infrastructure that serve as alternatives to the Western controlled infrastructure, such as SWIFT, & is currently settling the majority of its trade using the Yuan or the counterparty’s currency, bypassing USD.
The PRC took very seriously the noises about decoupling that emanated from the DC “Blob” over the past 8 years, & has prepared accordingly. The US has not done so.
Beijing Has Escalation Dominance in the U.S.-China Tariff Fight
Adam S. Posen
April 9, 2025“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with,” U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted in 2018, “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” This week, when the Trump administration imposed tariffs of more than 100 percent on U.S. imports from China, setting off a new and even more dangerous trade war, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a similar justification: “I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they’re playing with a pair of twos. What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.”
In short, the Trump administration believes it has what game theorists call escalation dominance over China and any other economy with which it has a bilateral trade deficit. Escalation dominance, in the words of a report by the RAND Corporation, means that “a combatant has the ability to escalate a conflict in ways that will be disadvantageous or costly to the adversary while the adversary cannot do the same in return.” If the administration’s logic is correct, then China, Canada, and any other country that retaliates against U.S. tariffs is indeed playing a losing hand.
But this logic is wrong: it is China that has escalation dominance in this trade war. The United States gets vital goods from China that cannot be replaced any time soon or made at home at anything less than prohibitive cost. Reducing such dependence on China may be a reason for action, but fighting the current war before doing so is a recipe for almost certain defeat, at enormous cost. Or to put it in Bessent’s terms: Washington, not Beijing, is betting all in on a losing hand.
Mario 🇺🇸🇵🇱🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@PawlowskiMario) posted at 5:21 AM on Fri, Apr 11, 2025:
BREAKING from🇪🇺🇨🇳:Xi Jinping — the communist dictator of China — just said what every European leader is probably thinking but too diplomatic to say out loud:
“Trump is bullying Europe and the entire world.”
Let that sink in.
Trump didn’t just isolate America — he turned China into the voice of reason on the global stage.
Xi literally asked Europe to unite with China against Trump’s “unilateral intimidation.”
(https://x.com/PawlowskiMario/status/1910639380617634072?t=5r7-h30rsZn8-emyYlAM5w&s=03)
Financial Times (@FT) posted at 7:10 AM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
Breaking news: The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China https://t.co/PfHCZHzMJe https://t.co/QZnHL3trYs
(https://x.com/FT/status/1911754016926605800?t=60tckEwStESKnemZ3Zp2vw&s=03)
The United States versus Elon R. Musk (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 4:52 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
the international community can’t get at Trump because he’s the president and will also subsequently have permanent presidential immunity, but the president of El Salvador doesn’t have that much clout and can still be punished as a criminal against humanity
(https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1911900469959774322?t=HHH-zhA1kyTEEm9FvEKABw&s=03)
Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) posted at 1:01 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
Insanity. Trump has either lost his mind or is fully loyal to Putin. Either way, anyone in the GOP defending this as “he just wants peace” is as deserving of condemnation. Do any of them have the courage to defend the truth? Trump is basing US foreign policy on blatant lies.
(https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/1911842185563066810?t=f0qdArSg3n2xsOyGiQnztw&s=03)
John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) posted at 4:50 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
the question is whether any Republican senators are in fact patriots who care about their country more than their party
they all know full well that this madman is destroying America’s place in the world, trashing our values, discarding the rule of law, and wrecking our economy
(https://x.com/JohnJHarwood/status/1911899844412928125?t=zLmhbmjm7WbCbdfwpklASQ&s=03)
Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) posted at 1:05 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
Trump admin just detained Mohsen Mahdawi, who:
–has green card
–was Columbia Buddhist club president
–saw best friend shot by Israeli soldier
–said “we are against antisemitism because antisemitism is a form of injustice, and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” https://t.co/DEpKf85yno
(https://x.com/prem_thakker/status/1911843288530800803?t=RT-PTJxKSNOBbEBzD19kHQ&s=03)
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) posted at 1:50 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
WOW. The Trump admin is attempting to strip a green card from a Buddhist Palestinian who’s committed to nonviolence, just because he advocated on behalf of Palestinian human rights.
Free speech is being trampled on by this administration.
(https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1911854636996165995?t=wjsQRmh1_9dRXrMKCN1VAQ&s=03)
ulia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
The man tapped by RFK Jr to run a clinical trial looking to tie vaccines to autism has been charged with practicing medicine without a license, given autistic children a dangerous drug not approved for use in the US & improperly prescribed puberty blockers
https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1911513567331057941
Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
Mark Geier’s medical licenses were suspended by the 7 states where he and his son operated autism treatment centers and conducted several studies linking vaccines to autism, only to have them retracted and withdrawn from publication by scientific journals.
https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1911514446184296953
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar
Trump has fully turned on Zelenskyy: “He’s always looking to purchase missiles. Listen, when you start a war, you gotta know you can win a war. You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1911810667281023133
Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) posted at 4:02 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
The man who firebombed a leading 2028 Democratic presidential candidate’s home shared the same anti-Biden rhetoric on social media Trump was spreading at the time.
DOJ? Silent. Whereas if a shrub loses a leaf at a Tesla dealership, Bondi begins shrieking. https://t.co/Ks5dreNPIc
(https://x.com/SethAbramson/status/1911887823029891431?t=tk8L4w9X7Vytb9p9KzY-ig&s=03)
Christopher Webb
@cwebbonline
Trump’s tariffs are hitting farmers hard — in ways you might not expect. This honey farmer voted for Trump three times. Now his supplier costs have skyrocketed, he’s frozen hiring, and he’s lost $150K in revenue from government contracts.
When asked if he regrets voting for him in 2024, he said, “Perhaps I should have considered other options.”
NO SHIT!
https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1911466664748781757
philip lewis
@Phil_Lewis_
The Trump admin announced that it was terminating a settlement aimed at improving wastewater treatment services for Black Alabama communities harmed by raw sewage, calling the agreement an “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy”
https://x.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1911791689850646718
Harvard University (@Harvard) posted at 0:35 PM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” – President Alan Garber https://t.co/6cQQpcJVTd
(https://x.com/Harvard/status/1911835670953214401?t=VAVmktkf4ia4Y_Cfxq35iQ&s=03)
Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) posted at 6:26 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
Andrew Sullivan: “Once you grasp Trump as an elected monarch, his full rebuke to the very idea of America comes into clearer view.
He is precisely — almost uncannily — what this country was founded to oppose: an arbitrary, corrupt, mendacious, and utterly incompetent king.
We need to repeatedly expose this king’s long train of abuses and usurpations, his unilateral cutting off trade with all parts of the world, his imposition of taxes, i.e. tariffs, without our consent, his transporting people in America beyond seas to jails in dictatorships from which there is no escape or reprieve.
We need to insist that a president whose character is marked by every act which may define a tyrant be subjected once again to the Constitution.”
(https://x.com/JoshKraushaar/status/1911018061542436870?t=rvIwz2nSNut3yeYDpF53jg&s=03)
Candidly Tiff (@tify330) posted at 10:08 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
“The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said items like smartphones, laptops, machines used to make semiconductors and flat-panel monitors would be exempt.”
He caved AGAIN 😏 https://t.co/ThX61t4gVb
(https://x.com/tify330/status/1911073851686953004?t=MS8vvQdN3oiAmQD8r5iXIQ&s=03)
Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) posted at 8:44 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
The real goal of Trump’s tariff system is to consolidate power through the granting of exceptions https://t.co/bSWP2rsnvh
(https://x.com/jonathanchait/status/1911052917739606483?t=IN8QRW1543n_xYKtkwB0mg&s=03)
Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) posted at 10:31 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
Given this enormous win for tech companies… will the SEC be looking at trading volumes/timeline yesterday to ensure no one was tipped off abt today’s announcement?
(Separately:Also good news for U.S. consumers.)
(https://x.com/SRuhle/status/1911079747053822053?t=d2YJVnlYoWdVqFfuVz6V7g&s=03)
Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) posted at 9:23 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
The good news is that Trump is slowly but surely caving on just about everything.
I don’t know if it’s Jamie Dimon, or Tim Cook, or Scott Bessent.
But somebody finally has his ear and it is working. https://t.co/cuK0NesK2r
(https://x.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1911062613045166145?t=LgO-nwyM0Ds3VOqcRCGjsw&s=03)
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 2:00 PM on Thu, Apr 10, 2025:
The New York Times is now indistinguishable from Soviet-era PRAVDA or modern day North Korean media. https://t.co/AjQ1bwhNuE
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1910407605106733397?t=HBREBYKVYopnFnwY9YVV-A&s=03)
The United States versus Elon R. Musk (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 9:29 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
they don’t tell you often enough how difficult the teaching (K-12) profession is made by bigoted parents, especially religious-conservative parents of a wide variety of backgrounds
(https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1911064016468005238?t=auAY9D1_TKu2yKTdEtb_iA&s=03)
Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) posted at 9:28 AM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
Remember when Elon Musk said prosperity was ahead for Argentina after electing far-right president Javier Milei?
(https://x.com/tomaskenn/status/1911063768701784549?t=usA6CJ0sNG4OnouBxMZraA&s=03)
Bitxh Wit’em & Some Bitxh In’em Thassa Lotta Bitxh (@cbr_OLU) posted at 11:43 PM on Sat, Apr 12, 2025:
The coordination, severity & timeliness of CHina’s response to AMerica is nasty work
I can’t believe this is the timeline of global news & information right now
I KNOW it’s some retailers looking kicking & throwing up somewhere
(https://x.com/cbr_OLU/status/1911279157205520846?t=HgCsUPYqc5u7mRSywn6ZSA&s=03)
Sarah Ironside 💙 (@SarahIronside6) posted at 8:30 AM on Fri, Apr 11, 2025:
All trump had to do when he took office was leave things alone and take credit for Biden’s booming economy, but his ego just wouldn’t allow that.
(https://x.com/SarahIronside6/status/1910686902090400028?t=i_JA9PQ6SQn3YfaTBGZVoQ&s=03)
Lobo
April 14, 2025 at 12:31 pm
Reposting. I don’t know if anyone is listening, but this is bigger than me or you.
Please call your Senators and have them shut down congress(I know a pipe dream) until he is returned:
Refuse cloture(filibuster)
Deny Quorum
No on all nominees
Holds on everything
This is game, set and match here.
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 2:18 PM on Sun, Apr 13, 2025:
Somebody tried to torch the Governor of Pennsylvania’s home – while he & his family were in it – and how that isn’t the top story today along w/oh I don’t know, a question to Trump why he hasn’t deployed the FBI to investigate (and call the Governor to check on him) is beyond me
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1911499375429169371?t=RtG-NKjHTO3Lqrydg4ZZow&s=03)
Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) posted at 8:14 PM on Sun, Apr 13, 2025:
Within the course of a few days Trump has announced he’s keeping all his tariffs against China, then announced a consumer electronics exemption for China, and now he says he never announced an exemption. US trade policy is based solely on what Trump’s dementia tells him each day.
(https://x.com/PalmerReport/status/1911588790050631721?t=6brRWZ1QOJ4EDoLovkjQrQ&s=03)
Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) posted at 8:48 PM on Sun, Apr 13, 2025:
Zelensky tells 60 Minutes: “Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S…[there’s] enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America.” “It seems to me that the Vice President is somehow justifying Putin’s actions.” https://t.co/t5DILk3aVo
(https://x.com/MarquardtA/status/1911597432703430737?t=Ao9rDEpw6Dv712H7OiSRsQ&s=03)
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 7:02 AM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
If the last week has taught us anything, it’s that allies (and adversaries) were like “we’ll deal with his bullshit” in Trump’s first term but the second time around they are like “fuck this guy.”
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1911751933146038334?t=EVsY8Fkea_RW4rcE7VS0sA&s=03)
Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) posted at 6:36 AM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
We’re liberated …. from being the worlds reserve currency https://t.co/It4wjIeb0M
(https://x.com/MollyJongFast/status/1911745445941870821?t=iX_Nh6NhGE6yf03om1rhcQ&s=03)
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 7:05 AM on Mon, Apr 14, 2025:
Obama once mildly criticized the Supreme Court over its Citizens United opinion and the media spent a week treating it like a massive scandal. Trump is openly calling on his own regulatory agency to go after a media company over a segment on 60 Minutes and it’s a shoulder shrug.
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1911752608768720941?t=k8B4z3cdaE26yTP0G1knRA&s=03)
David Enrich (@davidenrich) posted at 9:32 PM on Sun, Apr 13, 2025:
Trump urges his FCC chairman to “impose the maximum fines and punishment” against CBS because he didn’t like two“60 Minutes” segments tonight. https://t.co/nzmgCS4J4J
(https://x.com/davidenrich/status/1911608506798457331?t=HaWgWddukg09V5k5daaPNg&s=03)
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊