China came to the table

China’s challenge, because it came across the rates of US President Donald Trump, has been a decisive picture of this trade war.

It has encouraged Viral Memes from Trump to wait until the Chinese leader would call.

“We will not deteriorate,” has been an almost daily message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Beijing. While the rates and the rhetoric from Washington escalated, China groated into his heels.

Even when Chinese officials went to Switzerland for conversations, a social media account run by the State published a cartoon of the American finance minister who pushed an empty store trolley.

There were even conflicting versions of whom the conversations in Geneva initiated.

But after two days of “robust” conversations, the situation seems to have changed.

So is this an important turning point for Washington and Beijing? The answer is yes and no.

“The consensus of both delegations this weekend is that none of the parties want a decoupling,” said the American Minister of Finance Scott Bessent during A press conference in Geneva.

“And what had happened with these very high rates … was the equivalent of an embargo, and neither of them wants that. We want to trade.”

Economists admit that this agreement is better than expected.

“I thought the rates would be lowered to about 50%somewhere,” Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management in Hong Kong, told the Reuters news agency.

But in fact the American rates for Chinese import will now fall to 30%, while the Chinese rates on American goods are falling to 10%.

“It is clear that this is very positive news for economies in both countries and for the global economy, and makes investors much less concerned about the damage to global supply chains in the short term,” he added.

Trump greeted the progress on his social social site on Sunday: “Many things discussed, much agreed. A total reset negotiated in a friendly but constructive way.”

Beijing has also soften his tone considerably – and perhaps for a good reason.

To a certain extent, China can assume the pain of an economic war with America. It is the main trade partner for more than 100 other countries.

But civil servants are increasingly worried about the impact that the rates could have on an economy that already has difficulty tackling a crisis, stubbornly high youth unemployment and low consumer confidence.

The factory output is delayed and there are reports that some companies have to dismiss employees because the production lines of American goods come to a halt, which brings the trade to a halt.

Data on Saturday showed that the Chinese consumer price index fell by 0.1 percent in April, the third month in a row decrease, because consumers are stopping expenditure and companies drop prices to compete for customers.

The Chinese Trade Ministry said on Monday that the agreement with the US was an important step to “resolve differences” and “laid the foundation to bridge differences and to deepen cooperation”.

Such a positive statement from Beijing would have been unthinkable only a month ago.

The two parties have also agreed to more conversations, or a “economic and trade consultation mechanism”, as Beijing says.

But the characterization of Trump of a “total reset” in relationships can be too optimistic, because there is a slight stitch in the tail in Beijing’s statement.

The Ministry of Trade ended with a memory of those who consider it wrong.

“We hope that the US will continue to work with China to meet each other halfway on the basis of this meeting, thoroughly correct the wrong practice of one -sided rate increases,” said the spokesperson.

Chinese state media also had a warning for Washington. The commentary of Xinhua News Agency claimed that China’s “goodwill and patience have its limits, and it will never be used for those who suppress and blackmail us without a break or have no trouble going back to their word”.

Leaders in Beijing will want to portray an image in force, both to her own people and for the international community. They will want to appear as if they have not stimulated an inch. The message from China is that it is responsible and rational and does what it is possible to prevent a global recession.

“This is a victory for conscience and rationality,” said Zhang Yun of the School of International Relations at Nanjing University.

“The conversations have also determined the required framework for continuous dialogue and negotiations in the future.”

This “victory” is only 90 days. The rates are only temporarily paused to allow negotiations.

It will allow a trade to flow, and it will calm up concerned markets.

But the root of the problem still exists. China still sells much more to the United States than it buys. And there are other, much thorny differences to Unpick, from Chinese government subsidies to important industries, to geopolitical tensions in the Taiwan street and then.

The struggle for a more balanced trade relationship is not nearly – it just moved.

The front line has shifted from the Chinese factory floors and American supermarkets to negotiating tables in both Beijing and Washington.