[🇨🇳] China vs USA

[Saif]

Trump and Xi speak on the phone ahead of the inauguration, China’s foreign ministry says

US President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were speaking on the phone late Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The conversation comes ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday. The US-China relationship is expected to be one of the main focuses of Tru

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump and Xi speak on the phone ahead of the inauguration, China’s foreign ministry says
AP
Published :
Jan 17, 2025 20:43
Updated :
Jan 17, 2025 20:43

A combination of file photos showing Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and US President-elect Donald Trump — Reuters/File

US President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were speaking on the phone late Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The conversation comes ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday. The US-China relationship is expected to be one of the main focuses of Trump’s second term, with tensions between the two superpowers looming in the areas of trade, technology and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, among other things.

Trump has threatened to slap tariffs of 60 per cent on all Chinese imports into the US, but he has also in the past praised his relationship with Xi and has suggested China could help mediate international crises such as the war in Ukraine.

Xi will not attend Trump’s inauguration. China will be represented at the event by Vice President Han Zheng.​

 

[Saif]

Trump raises prospects for a negotiated reset on US-China ties

Donald Trump unexpectedly held off tariffs on China on his first day back at the White House and did not single it out as a threat, raising the prospect of a rapprochement as both sides look to gain from each other rather than rain harm on an adversary.

www.thedailystar.net

Trump raises prospects for a negotiated reset on US-China ties

Donald Trump unexpectedly held off tariffs on China on his first day back at the White House and did not single it out as a threat, raising the prospect of a rapprochement as both sides look to gain from each other rather than rain harm on an adversary.

In a speech after his inauguration, the US president refrained from mentioning China, its erstwhile opponent in a previous trade war, even as he said tariffs would make the United States "rich as hell", leaving the door open for fresh negotiations with the world's second-largest economy.

Trump also delayed the ban on China-owned short-video app TikTok, but in an unprecedented move, suggested that the US should be a half owner of TikTok's US business in return for keeping the app alive, saying the company could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

As Trump begins his second term, Beijing and Washington find themselves needing a new roadmap to advance their goals and guard their interests, analysts say, although previously unresolved issues such as the 2020 trade deal could jar the currently cordial undertones.

During his first term, Trump quickly struck up a relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both men lavishly hosted each other in Florida and Beijing. But that did not stop ties deteriorating into a trade war that unleashed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs and uprooted global supply chains.

Neither side appears interested in picking up where they left off, however, with signs pointing to the negotiation table instead.​

 

[Lulldapull]

Why would the US/ UK/ Canada/ EU/ Australia sabotage their relations with China? Its a $2 trillion annual symbiotic relationship for cheap Walmart/ Target/ TJ Max type of goods no?

Until Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesiands/ malaysiandz pick up the cheap consumer goods manufacturing mantle, till then the US is powerless to act against China.

 

[Saif]

Weak yuan, Trump tariff threats confound Beijing’s economic puzzle

Higher US tariffs under President Donald Trump could accelerate a slump in the value of China’s currency, complicating recent efforts by Beijing to kickstart a rebound in its struggling economy, analysts warn.

www.thedailystar.net

Weak yuan, Trump tariff threats confound Beijing’s economic puzzle

An employee counts 100 Chinese yuan banknotes at a bank in Hefei of Anhui province. Photo: REUTERS/FILE

Higher US tariffs under President Donald Trump could accelerate a slump in the value of China's currency, complicating recent efforts by Beijing to kickstart a rebound in its struggling economy, analysts warn.

Just days after beginning his second term in the White House last week, Trump said he would impose a 10 percent levy on all Chinese products from February 1, while leaving the door open for negotiations.

If implemented, the duties will likely exacerbate the yuan's weakness, just as Chinese leaders work to shore up an economy beset with challenges including sluggish domestic consumption and a prolonged debt crisis in the property sector.

Economists say this year could see the yuan fall to the lowest level against the US dollar since Beijing scrapped its fixed exchange rate two decades ago.

"The combination of looming tariffs, looser monetary policy and a slower pace of rate cuts in the United States will weaken the yuan," said Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist at Moody's Analytics. A depreciated currency enhances the competitiveness of exporters by lowering the prices of their goods and services overseas.

This could encourage Beijing to allow the yuan to decline further in order to support its foreign trade and reduce deflationary pressure at home, notes Alicia Garcia Herrero of Natixis.

But a weaker yuan "could exacerbate trade tensions with the United States, hindering negotiations to bring tariffs back down", said Murphy Cruise.

He added that a "rapid drop" in its value could trigger large-scale capital outflows, similar to those that occurred in 2015 as uncertainty regarding China's economy swirled.

Above all, a major depreciation would run counter to the strategic objective of President Xi Jinping to ensure a "strong currency" and make China a "financial power".

But a stronger yuan would require sacrificing China's currency advantage in trade -- a vital lifeline for the economy at a time of sluggish domestic spending.

"It is a Catch-22 situation," wrote Garcia Herrero.

For now, Beijing's strategy is to prioritise the yuan's stability, with the ambition of ultimately making it a major global reserve currency, analysts from Macquarie Group noted.

The exchange rate could slide to 7.45 yuan per dollar by the end of 2025, from 7.24 currently, noted Murphy Cruise.

While China's central bank cannot put a full halt to the yuan's slump, it "will likely intervene in the foreign exchange markets to ensure that the depreciation... is gradual", he said.

Surpassing the symbolic marker of 7.5 yuan per dollar could cause "panic", sparking an even more rapid spiral, Wang Guo-Chen of the Taiwan-based Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research told AFP.

Authorities may initially orchestrate a slight devaluation in response to US tariffs, but "they will eventually pull back" he said.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has recently introduced what it hopes will be hefty support for the yuan, including the issuance of six-month central bank bills in Hong Kong totalling a record 60 billion yuan.

The PBoC has also recently injected tens of billions of dollars into financial circuits in order to stabilise markets and prevent activity from screeching to a halt during the Lunar New Year.

But such moves may come into conflict with Beijing's efforts elsewhere to boost an economy that is struggling to regain momentum.

"It's a very tricky balance: if domestic liquidity is increased, the currency will depreciate," said Wang.

The PBoC's approach so far has been to alternate between liquidity injections and withdrawals, he told AFP.

Beijing has pledged to continue providing major economic support for the domestic economy in 2025, boosting fiscal stimulus and encouraging consumption through measures such as subsidies for household goods.

But the spectre of heightened trade tensions with the United States continues to darken the horizon.

"Domestic consumption sentiment is unlikely to improve meaningfully amid trade disputes," warned Kiyong Seong, macro strategist at Societe Generale.​

 

[Saif]

China’s DeepSeek AI a ‘wakeup call’ for US tech firms

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Chinese start-up DeepSeek's technology should act as spur for American companies and said it was good that companies in China have come up with a cheaper, faster method of artificial intelligence.

www.thedailystar.net

China’s DeepSeek AI a ‘wakeup call’ for US tech firms
Warns Trump, takes aim at DEI, Covid expulsions, transgender troops

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• Trump orders planning for 'Iron Dome' missile shield for US​
• His admin fires justice dept lawyers who investigated him​

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Chinese start-up DeepSeek's technology should act as spur for American companies and said it was good that companies in China have come up with a cheaper, faster method of artificial intelligence.

"The release of DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company should be a wakeup call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win," Trump said in Florida.

"I've been reading about China and some of the companies in China, one in particular coming up with a faster method of AI and much less expensive method, and that's good because you don't have to spend as much money. I view that as a positive, as an asset," Trump said.

"I view that as a positive because you'll be doing that too, so you won't be spending as much, and you'll get the same result, hopefully," he said.

Trump also signed a series of executive orders on Monday to remove diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the military, reinstate thousands of troops who were kicked out for refusing Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic, and take aim at transgender troops.

Earlier on Monday, Pete Hegseth, who narrowly secured enough votes to become defence secretary, referred to the names of Confederate generals that were once used for two key bases during his remarks to reporters as he entered the Pentagon on his first full day on the job.

Trump signed the executive orders while flying back from Miami to Washington DC.

One of the executive orders signed by Trump said that expressing a "gender identity" different from an individual's sex at birth did not meet military standards.

While the order banned the use of "invented" pronouns in the military, it did not answer basic questions including whether transgender soldiers currently serving in the military would be allowed to stay and, if not, how they would be removed.

Trump's plans have been heavily criticised by advocacy groups, which say his actions would be illegal.

"President Trump has made clear that a key priority for his administration is driving transgender people back into the closet and out of public life altogether," Joshua Block, with the ACLU, said earlier on Monday.

Trump also signed an executive order that "mandated a process to develop an 'American Iron Dome'."

The short-range Iron Dome air defense system was built by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with US backing, and was built to intercept rockets fired by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza towards Israel.

Trump's administration on Monday fired more than a dozen Justice Department lawyers who brought two criminal cases against him, an official said.

The officials were fired after Acting Attorney General James McHenry, a Trump appointee, concluded they "could not be trusted to faithfully implement the President's agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the President," a Justice Department official said.​