PDB Situation Report | May 10th, 2025: Xi’s Weak Hand: U.S.-China Showdown & India And Pakistan On The Brink
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Who is Gordon Chang and what is his expertise on US-China relations?
Later in the show, India and Pakistan trade blows, just weeks after the Kashmir terror attack. Is this tit for tat just the beginning? Well, Jeff Smith, Director of the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, he'll stop by for more on that. But first, the Situation Report Spotlight. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson heads to Switzerland this weekend. Oh, that sounds posh. Leading a U.S. delegation for high-stakes trade talks with China. It's the first serious attempt to diffuse the economic standoff sparked by President Trump's tariff blitz. The White House says tariffs could come down if talks go well. But, as you could imagine, that's a big if. While both sides have made quiet concessions in recent weeks, including China easing some retaliatory tariffs, well, there's still deep mistrust on both ends. So, should we expect progress or just political theater? I'm going to vote for political theater. Heute mit mir ist Gordon Chang, Autor von Plan Red, Chinas Projekt, um Amerika zu zerstören. Du kannst ihn auf X folgen, Gordon G. Chang.
What are the stakes of the upcoming US-China trade negotiations in Switzerland?
Und ich suggeriere, dass du das tust. Ich suggeriere nicht nur, ich versuche tatsächlich, dass du das tust. Gordon, danke sehr, dass du zurückgekommen bist auf den Situation Report. Danke, Mike. Also, wir haben dieses Meeting in Schweizerland. If you could talk a little bit about who will be involved and, and I know this is speculation, but what you anticipate to come out of this weekend meetings.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and US Trade Representative Jameson Greer will be meeting one or more vice premiers from China. You know, the Senate actually started saying that this meeting would be talking about talking. Trump a few hours ago said, well, you know, we need something to come out of this meeting. And of course he tweeted or he put on Truth Social that 80% tariffs seemed about right. That would be down from a general rate of 145. But on some Chinese products, the rate is actually 245 because of the existing tariffs. I don't know where this is going to go. The Chinese are hanging very tough. We heard a statement from some Chinese premier or something in Russia now for the May 9th Victory Day celebrations with a very tough line on the U.S., So, we'll find out when we find out. And I know that's an unsatisfactory answer, but when we start thinking about the normal trajectory of US-China trade talks, they take forever.
And these will probably take forever unless President Trump makes concessions. So I hope that he doesn't make concessions for the sake of getting a deal. We have had this dynamic too many times in the past. It never, never works out for us. So I hope we don't go into it again.
When you say they're making hardline or one of the leadership that's currently in Moscow was making hardline statements, can you elaborate on that?
They were again saying what the United States was wrong and was engaging in bullying tactics. And China would never give in to this. They didn't actually make the specific statement, which is really important, and that is China was saying that the United States would have to withdraw its unilateral tariffs for even talks to begin. So that was a concession.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who is Gordon Chang and what is his expertise on US-China relations?
1:05–2:10
2
What are the stakes of the upcoming US-China trade negotiations in Switzerland?
2:10–5:40
3
How is China’s economic and political position described amid trade tensions?
5:40–15:06
4
What is the nature of China-Russia relations and their involvement in the Ukraine conflict?
15:06–24:57
5
How does China exert influence over Pakistan in the India-Pakistan conflict?
24:57–28:24
6
What are the possible outcomes of the US-China trade talks and their implications?
28:24
7
What challenges does the Chinese economy face including protests and bank liquidity issues?
8:58–56:31
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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