Early in the morning of May 7, as the sun just broke through the horizon, a rare ray of peace came to the months-long tariff war. At 6:00 a.m., China officially announced that the China-U.S. economic and trade high-level talks will be held in Switzerland. This will be the first official contact between China and the U.S. on the issue of tariffs since the beginning of the tariff war.
Since 2025, the Trump administration has used the so-called fentanyl and "reciprocal tariffs" as the reason for repeatedly and brutally using the tariff stick on Chinese imports to the U.S., and has cumulatively imposed tariffs of up to a record-high 145%. In addition, the U.S. has canceled the duty-free policy on small parcels, tightened restrictions on two-way investment in China, discussed the cancellation of China's permanent normal trade relations status, and initiated "301 investigations" into China's shipbuilding and other industries and proposed restrictive measures such as imposing port charges.
In the face of a series of illegal and unreasonable unilateral hegemonic acts by the U.S., China has firmly counteracted them in defense of its legitimate rights and interests. China's attitude is clear: Fight to the end if the U.S. chooses to fight; keep the door open if the U.S. knows how to negotiate. Whether it is fighting or negotiating, China's determination to safeguard its development interests will not change, and its position and goal of defending justice and upholding the international economic and trade order will not change.
Seeing that high-handedness and blackmail are ineffective, but are increasingly burning, recently, the U.S. side of the senior management of the adjustment of tariff measures continues to release the wind, and through a variety of channels, to take the initiative to extend the "olive branch" to the Chinese side.
Twist
Once the news of the US-China economic and trade talks was announced, it immediately pushed the US stock index futures sharply higher. This, in fact, indirectly reflects the expectations of the U.S. industry and consumers, and even the world. However, the upcoming talks in Switzerland are only the first step for the U.S. and China, and many issues between the U.S. and China cannot be resolved overnight.
China still has to listen to its words and observe its actions simultaneously - after all, the U.S. has repeatedly said one thing to China and done another for its interests and backtracked on its words.
After the signing of the first phase of the Economic and Trade Agreement (ETA) in 2020, China has earnestly fulfilled its obligations under the ETA by protecting intellectual property rights, increasing imports, and expanding market access in the agricultural and financial sectors. However, the U.S. side has been using the agreement or abandoning it. Not only has it failed to implement or fully implement its commitments on technology transfer and trade in food and agricultural products, but it has also continued to escalate its suppression of China by introducing a series of suppressive and curbing measures against China, such as export controls and investment restrictions.
U.S. should first cancel unjustified tariffs
The U.S. should have known that it cannot cure itself by giving other countries injections. In recent years, the U.S. has been facing long-term industrial hollowing out, structural conflicts between low savings and high consumption, as well as economic and social development problems such as drug abuse, race, employment and refugees.
This is the root cause of the U.S. tariff war.
However, the tariff war is a lose-lose option, which not only fails to harvest the world, but also quenches the thirst of the U.S., and destroys the U.S. itself. The U.S. will ultimately have to solve its own problems through its own reforms.
If the U.S. side is really sincere in solving the problem, the first step is to start by canceling the tariffs that have been imposed unjustifiably.
(Source: Wen Wei Po; Journalist: Ge Chong; English Editor: Darius)
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