Description: After the conclusion of the latest round of trade talks in Stockholm between China and the US, the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced that China planned on supporting countries that are in danger of being heavily impacted by Trump’s tariffs. The announcement comes after the trade negotiations delivered no concrete steps from both sides and left the trade impasse undesignated, which threatened the reimposition of triple digit bilateral tariffs. CCP also announced that China would maintain its strategic independence and prioritize its national interests as a response to the US criticism over China’s import of Russian oil products. The Chinese economy despite showing signs of reinvigoration has stalled in incentivizing domestic demand due to aggressive competition within key industries such as tech and automotive.
Impact: The early telegraphing from China could be perceived as diplomatic posturing due to the inconclusiveness of the latest round of trade talks with the US, or exploration of strategic alternatives if no trade deal or extension of the trade ceasefire is reached. China is effectively using the aggressive foreign economic policy measures by the US to exploit potential gaps within dissatisfied countries over the trade deals reached with the Trump administration by offering alternatives and expanding their strategic outreach. The ineffectiveness of the latest round of trade talks also highlights the existence of unspecified red lines between the two countries which could potentially endanger future diplomatic efforts. Trump formed trade benchmark standards by concluding the deals with Japan and the EU, however, China as the most formidable strategic adversary to the US would not backtrack towards conceding imposed trade conditions since it has no longstanding strategic ties with the US, unlike Japan and the EU. The reescalation of trade tensions indicates insurmountable differences between the US and China which could cause a potential collapse of the trade talks if no extension is agreed in the upcoming period.