President Donald Trump has made U.S. economic might a key pillar of his second administration. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
For Trump, the visit is more than diplomatic choreography, it’s a stage for his economic doctrine. He’s anchored his Washington comeback on the idea of U.S. economic firepower, framing his battle cry around restoring American dominance in global trade and emerging technologies. In doing so, his administration has pressed allies and rivals alike to revisit trade terms, wielding tariffs as both weapon and warning.
"There are a lot of arrows in the Chinese quiver," Bryan Burack, a senior policy advisor for China and the Indo-Pacific at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "The fact of the matter is that they can literally make more moves than we can. They have more coercive tools to use against us, and they can deploy them easier," Burack added, pointing to U.S. industrial dependencies.
"China has been decoupling from us for a long time," Burack said. "So a lot of these moves that look like retaliation are really part of Xi Jinping's long-standing effort to sever dependence on the United States and build self-reliance on critical technologies. Unfortunately, the only way for us to respond is to do the same and that process is painful and excruciating," he added.
Clark Packard, a research fellow at the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, said the perception that China now holds the upper hand is misplaced.
TRUMP’S FOCUS TURNS TO JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA AS ASIA TRIP CONTINUES
President Donald Trump oversaw the signing of a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand during the first leg of his Asia trip. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Levin said that confidence stems from Beijing’s belief that the U.S. can’t absorb economic pain as deeply or as patiently as China can, betting that any trade war will hurt Washington faster and harder.
"What would really strengthen the U.S. hand is deepening partnerships, especially in Asia. Creating a common front against Chinese aggression and unfair trade practices, rather than trying to confront China and its allies at the same time."
Levin added that Washington must also regain control of the diplomatic narrative. "The U.S. would be better off setting the terms of the relationship rather than merely reacting," she said. "It feels like we may have lost the plot in our diplomacy with China and have lost sight of the structural economic issues the trade war was originally meant to address."
Amanda covers the intersection of business and geopolitics for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/beijing-quietly-dictating-trade-wars-next-moves-trump-xi-prepare-meet