China’s President Xi Jinping, ruler for life, is not ready to make sweeping deals with the USA on soybeans, AI or anything else.
asserted
Jinping → make → soybeans
China’s state-owned People’s Daily was so strapped for material that they ran a story titled: "Bonded by Ping-Pong: China-U.S. friendship writes a new chapter.
asserted
friendship → own → chapter
The Trump Administration has scored some quiet wins and much better field position for the long haul.
asserted
Administration → score → haul
"The old adage of deliverables in a relationship that we have with China is really not measurable in many ways," said U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue.
asserted
Perdue → have → China
It’s about "continuing the conversation.
asserted
It → ’ → conversation
What matters most to America in the long term is the trade deficit.
asserted
matters → matter → term
Good news: it's falling.
asserted
it → fall → ?
Already the gap between U.S. exports and imports from China is down from $297 billion in 2024 to $202 billion in 2025, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the deficit is on track to drop to $140 billion for 2026.
asserted
deficit → say → 2026
If achieved, this is a historic reversal of globalization.
asserted
this → achieve → globalization
Credit what Team Trump calls "managed" trade: specific, non-sensitive goods, such as agricultural products and medical devices.
asserted
Trump → credit → products
"All those export controls that are national security issues, we take those off the table," Greer told CNBC.
asserted
Greer → take → CNBC
Greer promised more trade details next week.
asserted
Greer → promise → details
However, China has bought only half the amount of soybeans agreed, according to American Soybean Association President Scott Metzger, so there’s still a ways to go on the trade balance.
uncertain
China → buy → balance
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent held a 12-hour meeting on Sunday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
asserted
Bessent → hold → Lifeng
In the end, all the two sides could do was extend the 2025 truce for two more months.
uncertain
sides → do → months
You remember what happened last year: China stopped licensing rare earth material exports, and Trump slapped on massive tariffs.
asserted
Trump → remember → tariffs
"I don’t know whether a bigger deal can be done.
asserted
deal → know → ?
I don’t know whether we will just roll the current deal," Bessent said Monday.
asserted
Bessent → know → deal
The Bessent-He meeting was also supposed to tee up some kind of agreement on an artificial intelligence safety mechanism for Trump and Xi.
asserted
meeting → suppose → Trump
Afterwards, Bessent kept to the optimistic line that China was eager to engage, and spoke about at least setting up a hot line to deal with incidents across borders.
asserted
China → keep → borders
China does not participate in nuclear arms control.
asserted
China → participate → control
What’s much more important is keeping the U.S. AI tech stack ahead of China.
asserted
’s → ’ → China
At the White House State Dinner on Thursday night, it was good to see Trump assemble the tech titans as he did on his visit to Beijing in May.
uncertain
he → see → May
These leaders from Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Dell, OpenAI, Citigroup, etc. have the cash and the smarts to keep the U.S. in the lead in AI.
asserted
leaders → have → AI
SpaceX and Amazon Leo are launching satellites that will keep U.S. dominance over China in the low earth orbit market sector.
asserted
that → launch → sector
Google has Project Suncatcher to try running its tensor processing units with solar power on orbit.
asserted
Google → have → orbit
Yes, they'd like to book deals with China in areas such as chips and financial services, but China has been lagging.
asserted
China → like → chips
For example, Nvidia is cleared to sell its H200 chips to China (not its most advanced products) but only small batches of chips have been purchased by TenCent and ByteDance.
asserted
batches → clear → TenCent
The reality is that China is cutting imports under Xi’s policy of semi-conductor self-reliance.
asserted
China → cut → reliance
That’s a sign that China is girding for long-term conflict.
asserted
China → ’ → conflict
Fortunately, President Trump has taken many actions to strengthen America’s position.
asserted
Trump → take → position
The Greenland agreement, investing in Venezuela’s oil, getting Chinese operators out of the Panama Canal Zone, a hefty defense budget aimed at countering China, expanding the Space Force, and yes, the U.S. Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz: all this has protected American interests.
asserted
this → invest → interests
And what did Xi contribute?
asserted
Xi → contribute → what
Xi Jinping announced China’s welcome loan of two pandas to the Atlanta Zoo, and a preposterous initiative for 100,000 Americans to study in China over the next five years.
asserted
Americans → announce → years
This, from a China ramping up nuclear weapons production, hassling U.S. satellites on orbit, backing Russia with oil purchases and defense electronics, and giving what Perdue termed "intel and parts" to Iran.
asserted
Perdue → ramp → Iran
Xi wants to show off Chinese culture, but in fact, there are fewer than 2,000 American students in China compared to 265,919 Chinese students in the USA.
asserted
Xi → want → USA
Last fall, Harvard enrolled 1,452 students from China, mostly graduate students.
asserted
Harvard → enrol → China
But if you want to go, Duke University has a joint venture in China which got a flattering and no doubt coincidental write-up in the state-owned China Daily on Friday.
asserted
which → want → Friday
The Aporia
