2025-10-21
5 分钟The Economist. Hello, this is Sarah Wu, co-host of Drum Tower, our podcast about China.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
We've handpicked an article for you from the latest edition of The Economist.
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Don't worry about China, it will all be fine.
President Donald Trump posted on social media on October 12th,
days after threatening retaliation for Beijing's new export controls on batteries and rare earths.
Don't worry well, it will all be fine.
China's Ministry of Commerce had said, roughly speaking, in a press briefing a day earlier,
emphasising how its rules would have a limited impact on supply chains.
Many accept these assurances.
Markets fell after Mr Trump's initial angry reaction, but have recovered.
Observers assume that Mr Trump will butter up his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping,
supposing that the two meet as planned on October 29th ahead of a summit in South Korea.
But even if a truce is re-established, their latest spat is disturbing.
It shows that Mr Trump is happy to contemplate triple-digit tariffs on one of America's biggest trading partners.
Many investors and, it seems, Chinese officials do not believe his threats.
It is true that the President is sensitive to financial markets and that he backed down earlier this year.
But he hates appearing to be pushed around.
At some point he may decide that enough is enough.