A significant diplomatic shift, as the US-China trade deal extension on August 26, 2025, contrasts with the Phase One trade deal signed on January 15, 2020, which aimed to address a $375 billion trade deficit but saw only 58% of its purchase commitments met by 2022, per a 2023 Peterson Institute for International Economics report.

This development follows a surprising policy reversal by Trump, who, after imposing tariffs and restricting Chinese student visas, announced on August 25, 2025, the allowance of 600,000 Chinese students into the US, potentially signaling a strategic pivot to leverage education as a soft power tool, a move supported by a 2021 National Bureau of Economic Research study linking international student presence to long-term bilateral relations.

The backdrop includes China’s evolving stance under Xi Jinping, who in a 2021 Davos speech advocated for free trade and opposed unilateral sanctions, aligning with the deal’s avoidance of a trade war, though critics note China’s economic leverage could shift global power dynamics, as hinted by a 2024 Council on Foreign Relations analysis of China’s Belt and Road influence.

I wonder who was hit harder by the tariffs… Money talks Bullshit walks…