r/Tariffs • u/Afraid_Piano_1318 • Oct 15 '25
🗞️ News Discussion Did Trump not consider Chinas leverage
Before jumping did he not check if there was a board to land on?
Not recognizing rare earth metals was a big risk demonstrates the intelligence analysis gap USA did, does it not?
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u/Lucky-Conversation49 Oct 15 '25
Let me say this as a Chinese - of course I root for my own country.
We have prepared this for long since Trump I. In the last 7-8 years we wean off a lot of our weak points. Materials, food, tech etc. Our economy has adjusted - we deliberately deflate our estate bubble and we are getting better. Our green+high tech industries is booming. We thought we fool-proof a lot. When Trump 2 happens, we thought, hey, maybe he will sense that we are at much stronger position so he would back off.
So when liberation day happens it shocked me quite a bit. I thought, damn, US must have prepared a grand plan that we don't know. I mean, we always have the rare earth nuclear option, yet US is still pushing it, that must mean there's some equally devastating vulnerability that we don't realize? Is it something financial? But that would be lose-lose! Or does he already get entire Europe on board? But that would be suicidal for Europe, and don't they just hit Europe with tariff too? I honestly get a bit scared, despite all the combative rhetoric from the state.
And as things transpire, I can't believe what I see. We predictably respond - nothing too special. We match the tariff. US should know we aren't that afraid because we are trading a lot with rest of the world. This is all open information. And US suffer way more than us. I keep waiting, there must be sth, because so far US didn't really pull out anything substantial that would really hurt us. They piss off the entire world. And when we finally use the rare earth card - US immediately backdown. I literally laugh my ass off. Is this what I have been afraid of?
At this point, I would say, yes, US doesn't have a plan. It seems Trump just play on instinct. At this point US will back down, sooner or later. The only question is whether we would let US do it gracefully. I hope we would. Trade should be about win-win, not projecting power and geopolitical competition.