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The Art of The Deal won a deal but the Art of War won the war. In a better-than-expected outcome, the US and China agreed on Monday 12 May 2025 to cut back on most new tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days while the two sides negotiate economic and trade policy.

Trump got a trade deal but Xi Jinping won the trade war. Remember, China was the only country amongst the 180 nations and territories throughout the world hit by “reciprocal” US tariffs to retaliate. China was alone and refused to wilt under America’s relentless and blatant bullying. Instead, China fought back each instance Trump raised US tariff on China. 

Trump got a trade deal but Xi Jinping won the trade war. Remember, China was the only country amongst the 180 nations and territories throughout the world hit by “reciprocal” US tariffs to retaliate.

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In i Capital dated 24 Apr 2025, it has already declared China the winner with an article titled “CHINA HAS ALREADY WON TRUMP’S 2^ND TRADE WAR.” To quote from that issue of i Capital: 

“Even though Donald Trump 2.0 has been in office for less than 100 days, he has already lost the trade war that he started against China in Feb 2025. Although many do not or cannot see it, China under Xi Jinping has already defeated America in this round of trade war. To Tan Teng Boo, the signs are already very clear that Xi Jinping has outwitted Donald Trump and his gang and China has gained the upper hand.”

The signs were very clear that China was gaining the upper hand and Trump was getting desperate. Again, to quote the prophetic words from the same issue of i Capital : 

“This time round, the Chinese government responded to America’s tariff imposition on China very fast, unlike in the past. The defensive trade actions from China were not only quick, they were like for like. As a consequence, China’s defensive measures became offensive. In the past, China was restrained even though she was only acting in self-defence. Now, China is on the offensive even when she is acting in defence. This strategy is brilliant and has caught Donald Trump and his rookie advisors by complete surprise. By raising her tariffs to 125% on American imports, and then say she will not respond any more after that as it will be a joke, China caught America by surprise and completely off-balance.”

That issue of i Capital contained many penetrating insights and brilliant analysis of the opposing approaches adopted by Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. It is worth reading the whole article again. Where can you find an analysis that described Trump as a xiaoren (Confucius definition of an inferior person) and Xi Jinping as a superior person (Junzi, 君子) ?

Tan Teng Boo was right when he wrote that he was convinced that president Donald Trump is wrong. He applied his art of the deal in a war. Trump should sack Peter Navarro. The tariff missiles that Trump fired when he went on a rampage caused a global trade war. China and president Xi Jinping are winni