Luke Vargas

John, we've reported that President Trump's decision to pause tariffs on dozens of countries while raising them to 125 percent on China could all be a part of an attempt to pressure Beijing into cutting some sort of deal with the U.S., though, at least for the time being, we've not seen any signs of a desire on Beijing's part to work this out, have we?

John, we've reported that President Trump's decision to pause tariffs on dozens of countries while raising them to 125 percent on China could all be a part of an attempt to pressure Beijing into cutting some sort of deal with the U.S., though, at least for the time being, we've not seen any signs of a desire on Beijing's part to work this out, have we?

Yeah, no movement. And as our colleague Lingling Wei reports, Beijing has actually been preparing for a trade war and has a whole arsenal of tactics at the ready. Walk us through some of those options.

Yeah, no movement. And as our colleague Lingling Wei reports, Beijing has actually been preparing for a trade war and has a whole arsenal of tactics at the ready. Walk us through some of those options.

Yeah, the line from Ling Ling's reporting that really jumped out to me was there might be ways to pressure American companies to give up their intellectual property in order to have access to the Chinese market. John, American companies are not going to be happy to hear that.

Yeah, the line from Ling Ling's reporting that really jumped out to me was there might be ways to pressure American companies to give up their intellectual property in order to have access to the Chinese market. John, American companies are not going to be happy to hear that.

So China may be ready for the trade war to come. And yet yesterday's news that tariffs are for now on hold for other countries has got to be a negative right, making China's exports less competitive. And yet we're seeing Chinese equities moving higher today.

So China may be ready for the trade war to come. And yet yesterday's news that tariffs are for now on hold for other countries has got to be a negative right, making China's exports less competitive. And yet we're seeing Chinese equities moving higher today.

In terms of what this means for China's options going forward, we spoke to reporter Stu Wu this week. He's been traveling through Vietnam, a country that was poised to be hit with 46% reciprocal tariffs. Those are now on hold.

In terms of what this means for China's options going forward, we spoke to reporter Stu Wu this week. He's been traveling through Vietnam, a country that was poised to be hit with 46% reciprocal tariffs. Those are now on hold.

But even before we knew that, Stu was telling us that there was kind of a narrative that even those tariffs might not have altered supply chains that see Chinese materials sent to Vietnam to be turned into finished goods and then exported to the U.S. and to others. Let's play a clip of that.

But even before we knew that, Stu was telling us that there was kind of a narrative that even those tariffs might not have altered supply chains that see Chinese materials sent to Vietnam to be turned into finished goods and then exported to the U.S. and to others. Let's play a clip of that.

John, if that trade continues, does this 90 day pause then not represent a loophole of sorts that would allow China to keep exporting to the U.S. in spite of these tariffs via other countries like Vietnam?

John, if that trade continues, does this 90 day pause then not represent a loophole of sorts that would allow China to keep exporting to the U.S. in spite of these tariffs via other countries like Vietnam?

Got it. And then it's safe to say this sort of existential question for China about where it can find export markets willing to take its goods, that that's not settled.

Got it. And then it's safe to say this sort of existential question for China about where it can find export markets willing to take its goods, that that's not settled.

Jonathan Cheng is The Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief in Beijing. John, thank you so much.

Jonathan Cheng is The Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief in Beijing. John, thank you so much.

Coming up, Russia and the U.S. complete another prisoner swap. We've got that story and the rest of the day's news after the break. We are exclusively reporting that Russia and the U.S. carried out a prisoner swap early this morning in Abu Dhabi, another sign of confidence building as Washington and Moscow pursue a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Coming up, Russia and the U.S. complete another prisoner swap. We've got that story and the rest of the day's news after the break. We are exclusively reporting that Russia and the U.S. carried out a prisoner swap early this morning in Abu Dhabi, another sign of confidence building as Washington and Moscow pursue a deal to end the war in Ukraine.