Trump placed massive tariffs on many nations, causing markets to crash, then reduced most of them except for those on China. Next, he issued carve-outs for specific types of products coming from China.
And on Wednesday, he appeared to be backing away from the remaining tariffs on China as well, saying they “will come down substantially.”
“Another harsh reality is that China called Mr. Trump’s bluff and seems to have won this round,” the Journal said in its assessment of the move.
The newspaper noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping “retaliated with some restraint” to Trump during his first term in office.
“He retaliated in tit-for-tat fashion and pushed all of his anti-U.S. economic and diplomatic levers,” the editorial board wrote. “He has cut off U.S. access to crucial rare-earth minerals, stopped the delivery of Boeing jets, looked elsewhere for food and natural-gas imports, and unleashed regulators against American companies.”
Xi also warned other nations not to make deals with the U.S. that didn’t include China.
“With even U.S. allies facing Mr. Trump’s tariff assault, Beijing’s threat has resonated in a way that it never previously did,” the newspaper said. “U.S. diplomatic sway is ebbing.”
It urged Trump to take the “path to political survival” and continue to back away from his aggressive tariffs.