søndag 19. oktober 2025

The latest chapter of the Trump-Xi ‘situationship’ explained

Another spat between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies has quickly escalated, and if President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping don’t lower the temperature soon, both nations stand to pay an exorbitant price.

Sky-high tariffs had brought trade between the two countries to a screeching halt earlier this year, before they reached a monthslong truce and substantially lowered levies on one another.

But trade tensions have reignited, with Trump threatening to impose tariffs starting at 130% on Chinese exports by November 1, up from the 30% minimum rate currently in effect. Trump also said he’s prepared to impose export controls on what he referred to as “any and all critical software” to China. Beijing has signaled it would retaliate to all these actions.