Following Donald Trump's release of a comprehensive plan to decouple the largest economies in the world, President Xi Jinping gave his top lieutenants explicit instructions: Remain composed and continue. In remarks released today, the Chinese leader subtly alluded to the trade conflict while urging Communist Party leaders to "respond with composure" to global issues. The US announced its "America First Investment Policy" a few days prior, implying that Trump's proposals went far beyond tariffs. The White House letter, which labelled Beijing a foreign enemy along with Russia, Iran, and North Korea, called for removing Chinese investment from "crown-jewel" industries like technology and energy and reexamining Chinese listings in the US.
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Additionally, officials are planning to increase Joe Biden's chip limits, and urge Mexico to put China under tariffs. When combined, they demonstrate that the US president is taking a more assertive stance against Beijing than he did during his first term, launching a wider variety of attacks that include financial market manipulation. This is bad news for Chinese tech equities, which have been rising since DeepSeek's AI surprise and Alibaba's Jack Ma's recent recovery. It's unclear if Trump is simply exerting pressure on Beijing to improve its negotiating position for a potential agreement.
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Perhaps awaiting the start of formal negotiations, which are expected to take place in April, Xi has refrained from calling his US colleague and has only taken minimal steps in response to the initial levies. Given that Trump may only in office for four years and Xi can reign for life, the Chinese leader's plan Perhaps the best course of action would be to take no action and watch in silence while Washington disrupts international trade while causing resentment among American friends.
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