President Trump Outwits Chairman Xi Jinping Ahead of G20 Summit…

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President Trump has taken the leverage of economics to levels of geopolitical strategy never seen before.  Nowhere is the genius strategy more clear than in the way Trump positioned the trade reset and confrontation with China.

In hindsight every move since early 2017 including:  (1) the warm welcome of Chairman Xi Jinping to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate; (2) the vociferous praise poured upon Xi; (3) the November 2017 tour of Asia; (4) the direct engagement with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un; the strategic relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and a host of smaller nuanced moves have been quietly building toward a conclusion.



The upcoming G-20 summit is the last chance for Trump and Xi to reconcile considerable differences and President Trump has the strongest strategic position any Chinese official has ever faced.

After Beijing walked away from previous agreements between USTR Robert Lighthizer and Vice-Premier Liu He, Trump initiated a series of punishing economic consequences that had to have been well planned in advance.

The economy in China is reeling from the pressure being applied by President Trump; and stunningly it has only been a little over a month since the consequence phase began.

In addition to tariff increases, the U.S. blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co., threatened other major Chinese tech companies and essentially cut-off China from the international supply chain it needs to sustain itself.  Beijing responded by drawing up a list of “unreliable entities” and making threats against any enterprise that would walk away from business engagement with China.  The totalitarian response worsened the situation and more companies have announced their intent to decouple from Beijing.

The important aspect missed by most observers is the ideology and outlook within any Chinese engagement. Quite simply, if it does not benefit China it is not done.  Therefore any negotiation with China is challenging because Beijing will cede no ground they view as already having been won.

China does not believe in ‘concession’ from current position within any terms.  Ultimately this is the reason why the negotiated agreement by Lighthizer and Vice-Premier He was dismissed by Beijing and talks collapsed. China will not cede already attained position.

However, in advance of the G20 Summit in Japan, President Trump has positioned Chairman Xi in a lose/lose dynamic.  This forces the outlook of Beijing into an incredible state of internal anxiety.  Only President Donald Trump could have achieved this position, is really is remarkable and is noted within this Bloomberg article:

(Bloomberg) By now, Xi Jinping is used to Donald Trump’s tariff threats. But the U.S. president’s latest ultimatum is personal, and the Chinese leader’s response could have far-reaching consequences for his political future.

Trump on Monday said he could impose tariffs “much higher than 25%” on $300 billion in Chinese goods if Xi doesn’t meet him at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Japan. China’s foreign ministry — which usually refuses to provide details of meetings until the very last minute — declined Tuesday to say whether the meeting would take place.

The brinkmanship puts Xi — China’s strongest leader in decades — in perhaps the toughest spot of his six-year presidency. If Xi caves to Trump’s threats, he risks looking weak at home. If he declines the meeting, he must accept the economic costs that come with Trump possibly extending the trade conflict through the 2020 presidential elections.

“Whether they meet or not, none of the possible scenarios are good for President Xi or the economy in the long run,” said Zhang Jian, an associate professor at Peking University. “You don’t have a good choice which can meet the needs of the Chinese economy or Mr. Xi’s political calculations.”  (read more)

Read that again carefully….

“If Xi caves to Trump’s threats, he risks looking weak at home. If he declines the meeting, he must accept the economic costs that come with Trump possibly extending the trade conflict through the 2020 presidential elections.”

That is what you call a Lose/Lose scenario.

China NEVER faces lose/lose situations.  The Chinese culture doesn’t even have a frame of reference for a position that includes ‘less losing’ amid better options.

For President Trump to have navigated Chairman Xi into such a position is the pinnacle of strategic success. In the long history of western engagement with Beijing it has never happened, ever.

President Trump is now playing with Chairman Xi like a mouse in a maze.

Trump wants to go to the full confrontation position. Donald J Trump has been talking about this for thirty years.  Additionally, for the past two years he has strategically laid the groundwork and aligned the allies needed for this final confrontation.  President Trump is looking for an excuse to apply the scale of tariffs on China that will crush their U.S. export business – and – force them into massive state subsidies to retain their manufacturing model such that they will have to retract from preexisting global financial obligations.

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Silly Trump. Little does he know that the way to negotiate is to give up all your leverage FIRST, then deliver planeloads of cash, then enjoy the laudatory headlines.

Since no matter what Trump does he won’t get any complementary press coverage, he’ll just have to settle for doing what is best for the country.