Trump has now put China comfortably in the driver seat on the tariff war. They will probably just stall now to put more [View all]

[Quixote1818]

pressure on Trump. I'm sure China knows the U.S. economy is vulnerable, especially with an election year coming up in 2026, so they know time is on their side. Weakening the U.S. economy will harm the GOP's midterm prospects as voters will blame the administration for rising costs or weaker growth. China knows U.S. businesses and consumers will pressure the White House to ease up, especially if inflation worsens.
They also don't trust Trump walking back on deals so they will want to wait and see if the pressure makes Trump easier to deal with.

Trump has cornered himself.