logo
Xi Jinping's defiance against Donald Trump paid off for China: Report

Xi Jinping's defiance against Donald Trump paid off for China: Report

Hindustan Times13-05-2025

The US and China announced their decision to lower tariffs on each other's products for a period of 90 days, proving that Xi Jinping's firm stance against Donald Trump turned out to be beneficial for the former's country. Following two days of high-level talks in Switzerland's Geneva, a joint statement said that the combined US levies of 145 per cent on most Chinese imports will be reduced by 30 per cent while China's duties on American goods will drop to 10 per cent.
During the discussions, the United States ended up meeting all of China's core demands. The elevated "reciprocal" tariff, which Trump set up for China at 34 per cent on April 2, has been suspended, leaving Beijing with the same 10 per cent levy that applies to the UK, reported Bloomberg.
The deal provided some much-needed relief for American markets as well as for Trump as the dollar and stocks went soaring, while Chinese equities also saw an uptick.
At the talks in Geneva, the two sides agreed to take "aggressive actions" to curb the flow of fentanyl, which could subsequently result in the elimination of the extra 20 per cent tariff.
Chinese President Xi Jinping maintained his stance against the US despite Trump raising their tariffs to the highest level in any country. He refused to get on a call with Trump in contrast to other world leaders and stood his ground.
Beijing reportedly instead opted to cut key interest rates and other measures to protect China's economy, while also sending out diplomats around the world to lock in fresh markets for Chinese products and slam America's "bullying".
While economic difficulties did indeed strike China amid the rising US tariffs, nationalist spirit back home encouraged Xi to not give in to American coercion. Trump, on the other hand, faced immense pressure from market players and business lobbies.
Trey McArver, co-founder of research firm Trivium China, said, "This is arguably the best outcome that China could have hoped for; the US backed down."
"Going forward, this will make the Chinese side confident that they have leverage over the US in any negotiations," McArver was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Gerard DiPippo, associate director of the RAND China Research Centre, said the lesson out of this trade talk is that "economic power matters".
"For Beijing, it's a strategic vindication, and one that makes Xi's focus on manufacturing and self-reliance harder to argue against, at least from an economic security perspective," DiPippo added.
The Trump administration's retreat from sky-high tariffs wouldn't have occurred if China hadn't responded so forcefully, not only with retaliatory duties but also export controls and other steps, according to Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
'This will strengthen Xi's political standing at home and his diplomatic standing internationally,' Kennedy said. 'He's the big winner from this round of the conflict.'
On Monday, the US President said that he could speak to Xi as soon as the end of this week, touting a "total reset" in Washington's relations with China. However, he said that the trade deal does not include the sectoral tariffs on cars, steel, aluminium, and possibly pharmaceuticals.
At a briefing, Trump said that the "relationship is very good" with China, adding that America is not looking to hurt Beijing. "China was being hurt badly. They were closing up factories. They were having a lot of unrest, and they were very happy to be able to do something with us," the US President added.
With the tariff war between the US and China on a halt for 90 days, Beijing now has a three-month time to strike a wider deal with Washington to rebalance trade and safeguard its own interests as well.
China's white paper on national security, as cited by the state-run Xinhua news agency, said that it is committed to the stable development of relations with the US. However, it added that imposing pressure and threats is not the right way to deal with China.
With Bloomberg inputs

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

BP Puts AI at Heart of Efforts to Boost Performance
BP Puts AI at Heart of Efforts to Boost Performance

Mint

time16 minutes ago

  • Mint

BP Puts AI at Heart of Efforts to Boost Performance

(Bloomberg) -- When engineers prepare to drill for oil, they know the spot deep underground where the well must end and can choose their starting point, but there are many possible routes in between. Optimizing that subsurface path — evaluating geological opportunities and challenges to ensure a successful job — has been a time-consuming task for engineers. Now, through BP Plc's technology center in Houston, a new AI-powered tool is dramatically streamlining the process and running thousands of scenarios to determine the best trajectory. You may be interested in 'It basically takes the time it would've taken people to do that from months down to days,' said BP Executive Vice President of Technology Emeka Emembolu. The technology 'is a massive game changer and it's getting us better outcomes in the wells we're drilling.' Artificial intelligence is being used by many companies across the oil industry. Exxon Mobil Corp. deployed the technology to help develop its flagship offshore discovery in Guyana. Autonomous drilling has played a role in productivity improvements seen in the US shale industry. The potential for this technology to deliver significant gains in operational efficiency has particular relevance for BP. Under pressure from unhappy shareholders and aggressive activist investor Elliott Investment Management, the company is seeking to reverse a long period of poor performance by boosting growth and profitability. After several years of focusing on clean energy, oil drilling has renewed importance as BP pivots back toward fossil fuels. The financial targets that underpin Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss's strategy reset all require doing more with less — curbing capital expenditure, cutting costs, raising returns and giving more cash to shareholders. To help achieve these goals, BP is pushing AI into every part of its operations, Emembolu said in an interview in London, where he will be speaking at the Tech Week conference. 'Our technology agenda is central to growing oil and gas, central to helping us focus our downstream business and to invest in the transition with discipline,' Emembolu said. The drilling optimization tool is already being used in fields from the Gulf of Mexico — a key driver of US oil output growth this year — to Azerbaijan, where BP earlier this month advanced a $2.9 billion natural gas project. In the Eagle Ford shale formation in Texas, Emembolu said an AI-generated 'morning report' is directing field hands to locations most urgently in need of work and reduce the amount of time spent driving between sites. Near Chicago, where BP's Whiting refinery processes large volumes of crude from Canada, the company is working with Palantir Technologies Inc. to embed data engineers to optimize processes on site to reduce costs and improve operational uptime. Disruption at the facility can have a significant impact on BP's earnings, such as in the first quarter of 2024 when a storm led to a lengthy shutdown. The technology is also being used outside of core oil and gas businesses — identifying optimal locations for the fastest electric-vehicle chargers; helping Indian motorists avoid lines at fuel stations with mobile notifications; advising German convenience store managers on how many pastries to bake each morning. 'In terms of costs, we're looking at things from all scales,' Emembolu said. 'Nothing is too big or too small for us to look at.' (Company corrects name of shale basin in 10th paragraph.) More stories like this are available on

The US and China Are Talking Again. Don't Call It a Reset
The US and China Are Talking Again. Don't Call It a Reset

Mint

time17 minutes ago

  • Mint

The US and China Are Talking Again. Don't Call It a Reset

Trade negotiations between the US and China in London mark a cautious step toward easing tensions, but not a new beginning. It's a short-term strategy to avoid further deterioration — a fragile truce that could be reversed at any moment. At the core is a deeper issue: National security. Both sides now view trade through that lens, and handshakes won't fix it. Washington must recognize that Beijing seeks respect and won't accept a one-sided, long-term deal. China, for its part, needs to understand that it won't be business as usual — and that the US will expect more concessions and market access to the world's second-largest economy. The alternative is continued hostility, which will make for a more chaotic global trade environment, and a more dangerous world. The London climbdown is positive, but precarious. Rapprochement has turned into recrimination before. After the initial euphoria of a trade-war ceasefire agreed in Geneva in May, both sides accused the other of reneging on a deal to temporarily lower tariffs that had climbed well above 100%. Now negotiators say they've reached an agreement in principle on a framework to deescalate trade tensions, based on the consensus forged in Geneva. Delegations from both sides will take the proposal back to their respective leaders, following nearly 20 hours of talks over two days. 'Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it,' US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. The full details of the accord weren't immediately available, but US officials said they 'absolutely expect' that issues around shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets will be resolved. There are no winners or losers coming out of this, notes Steve Okun, founder and chief executive officer of AC Advisors. The fundamental questions are much larger than any round of talks. 'The Trump administration needs to decide whether it views Beijing as a strategic competitor, or an existential threat,' he told me. 'Washington can take the economic hit from a trade war, but politically, Xi Jinping can suffer the hit for longer than Trump can. So one side has economic leverage, and the other political leverage — that's a standstill, for now.' The Chinese president is biding his time, despite a sluggish economy. In the most recent sign of how the trade war is hurting, exports rose less than expected last month. The worst drop in US-bound shipments since February 2020 — the outbreak of the pandemic — counteracted strong demand from elsewhere. Still, sales to other markets are providing much-needed support for an economy stuck in deflation and struggling with weak domestic demand. Beijing is sticking to its narrative that this trade war is Washington's problem, and that China is being unfairly targeted. A recent Xinhua commentary warned that America's security-focused view of economic issues risks undermining global cooperation. There is a pathway to peaceful coexistence, but compromises are required, notes Ryan Hass of the Brookings Institution. To break through with Xi, Trump will need to acknowledge that both countries are major powers. Neither can dictate terms to the other. Both would be hurt by high tariffs on each other's goods — but on their own, they're not enough to force capitulation. The US public has no appetite for a broader conflict with Beijing. Disapproval of China's behavior may be high, but the top priority is still to avoid war. Americans are clear in their desire to manage competition without that escalating into open conflict. For that to happen, Washington must recognize that Beijing craves respect. The US would be wise to pay heed to the Chinese concept of mianzi or 'face' — Xi will only agree to a long-term deal that he can pitch at home and abroad as a win. Beijing has taken lessons from Trump's first trade war, and judged that agreement to be one-sided in favor of Washington. It won't make that mistake again. China doesn't always like reciprocating face, but officials would be wise to give some to Trump, too. His tariffs have been outlandish, but his supporters also demand that he show strength, not concession. Beijing should be able to understand what happens when politicians need to cater to public pressure. Neither side has the upper hand to make the other come away an obvious loser. At the most, the London talks might have achieved just enough to help shape the future on a less-hostile basis. That in itself is progress — but it would be a mistake to call this moment a reset. More From Bloomberg Opinion: This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Karishma Vaswani is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia politics with a special focus on China. Previously, she was the BBC's lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

Wealthtech startup PowerUp Money raises $7 million from Accel, Blume, others
Wealthtech startup PowerUp Money raises $7 million from Accel, Blume, others

Time of India

time20 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Wealthtech startup PowerUp Money raises $7 million from Accel, Blume, others

Live Events Bengaluru-based wealthtech startup PowerUp Money has raised $7.1 million in its first major institutional funding round, led by early-stage investors Accel Blume Ventures , and Kae Capital The round also saw participation from 8i Ventures, in April by Prateek Jindal, who was previously the cofounder at Uni Cards , the startup offers direct mutual fund investments to retail investors.'The venture was initially built as a separate platform but within Uni Cards. Post this funding round, the firm and the team have been hived off from Uni,' Jindal told ET. He added that while he continues to be a shareholder at Uni Cards, he has resigned from an executive role in the with a registered investment advisor (RIA) licence, the platform offers advisory services on its clients' mutual fund investments and also offers transactions through the said that he believes that the Indian mutual fund market will grow to 100 million users over the next three to four years from around 55 million currently, and investors would look for proper advisory services on which funds to buy and sell.'There are many competitors in the wealth management space in India, but I am targeting retail investors with a ticket size of anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 crore,' Jindal Money's funding round comes at a time when there is heightened activity in the Indian wealth management ecosystem. Players like Centricity, Dezerv, Angel One-backed Ionic Wealth are taking shape in this space, looking to carve out a niche in the growing market. Stock broking major Groww recently closed the acquisition of Fisdom to set foot in the wealth management space as Money wants to build a technology-led product, which will generate good-quality advisory and portfolio management services to its clients for free. The company is also offering a paid subscription service, which will offer quarterly reviews and additional services.'While this will be my customer acquisition strategy, I am looking to generate revenue from end-to-end portfolio management services, which is what I am building towards,' Jindal a team of 30-35 individuals, Jindal is looking to use the freshly raised funds for strengthening the research vertical, building more products to cater to consumer requirements, and scaling up customer acquisition.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store