China Seeks to Delay and Divide: Tensions Rise as Trump Enforces New Tariffs and Democrats Stall U.S. Budget in Senate

The Oval Office chief had also stated that he no longer considered a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping necessary. He harshly criticized Beijing for its “very hostile” trade practices and warned that he would further increase tariffs on the Asian power—when the atmosphere seemed to have temporarily relaxed.

However, in the past few hours, positions shifted once again.

The President referred to Beijing’s application of new “special port tariffs” on ships operated or built by the United States and new export controls on the so-called “lands of all countries.”

The levies will be charged at Chinese ports starting October 14, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Transport.

Washington’s response was immediate: the U.S. will add an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese imports.

Trump stated that the new tariff would take effect on November 1 and added that his administration would also impose new export controls on “all critical software,” starting on that same date.

Despite the sharp tension, the dialogue channel between negotiators remained open, and both Trump and Jinping agreed to meet within two weeks during a summit in South Korea.

“We’re going to meet in a couple of weeks (…) in South Korea with President Xi” during the APEC summit, Trump told Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“We have a separate meeting,” added the president, who plans to arrive in South Korea on October 29 for a two-day visit.

The APEC summit will take place from October 31 to November 1.

“Very strange things are happening in China! It’s becoming very hostile,” Trump had declared days earlier in an extensive Truth Social post, in which he strongly criticized China’s imposition of export controls on rare earths, essential for manufacturing technological components.

“I had planned to meet with President Xi at APEC in South Korea, but now it seems there’s no reason to do so,” he added in that post.

Trump reported that China had sent letters to countries worldwide detailing the export controls on “each and every production element related to rare earths.”

Trump has dealt the Chinese communist regime not only precise but also decisive blows with long-term lethal tendencies.

Today, the Asian giant is experiencing an economic [recession/depression] with no visible way out, at least in the near term.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused China of trying to damage the global economy after the Asian giant introduced new export restrictions in the strategic sector of so-called “rare earths”—sites where key chemical elements for industrial and technological development are found mixed with other minerals, making them difficult to extract and process. Only countries with vast resources have the necessary conditions for their exploitation.

“This is a sign of how weak their economy is, and they want to drag everyone else down with them,” Bessent said in an interview with the Financial Times.

For Bessent, the measure reveals China’s economic difficulties: “They are in the middle of a recession/depression and are trying to get out through exports,” he said.

Despite the current situation, Bessent expressed “optimism” on Wednesday, October 15, regarding trade negotiations with Beijing and said President Trump still planned to meet with Jinping, despite his earlier statements. This was confirmed 48 hours later with the announcement of a new meeting between the two presidents.

“I’m optimistic. We are communicating at a very high level right now,” he said at an event organized by CNBC.

Things have not gone well for China, emboldened by the previous administration, which—though not as weak as expected—made major concessions to the Asian regime, especially allowing its economic and military expansion, espionage operations, and questionable global trade strategies.

China bet on a second Democratic term with its radical left-wing agenda in the White House. It expected Kamala Harris to win—another highly manipulable figure, as much or more than Biden or those truly steering the White House over the last four years.

The Asian giant knew that a second Trump term, after forcing the Chinese to sign a historic trade deal in January 2020 following almost two years of litigation, would be as bad or worse for them through the America First platform.

Internal economic pressure and the Communist Party’s leadership—already preparing a successor for Jinping—have pushed him to abandon any friendliness toward the Republican leader and demand a hardline stance against Washington.

Intelligence sources claim that Zhang Youxia and political veterans linked to Hu Jintao truly control the regime while preparing Wang Yang as the next in Jinping’s succession line.

However, China’s economic troubles, internal struggles within the CCP, and major social changes in the country point to uncertainty and secrecy as tools used by Chinese communists to divert attention and prevent the world from clearly seeing the weakness and instability of the planet’s second-largest economy.

In the other corner of the ring, Trump’s massive plans and projects are advancing at a dizzying pace in just nine months. U.S. global leadership is becoming increasingly present and evident with Trump’s presidential management and cabinet.

China moves in the opposite direction, entrenched as a major opponent, while the foundations of its economy, domestic and foreign policies, and stratagems hit Washington’s massive wall.

The U.S. and several Middle Eastern countries (Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey) have just signed and backed the 20-point peace plan created by the U.S. president seeking an end to the war between Israel and Hamas and stability in the region.

In just nine months of government, the Republican leader has already ended eight armed conflicts through final peace agreements.

Trump has also signed major foreign investments for the U.S. worth $7 trillion to counter China’s blackmailing actions.

As part of his Master Plan, the price of gold per ounce crossed the unprecedented $4,000 barrier. This has triggered a wave of gold purchases in dollars by central banks of the world’s leading economies, resulting in increased liquidity for the world’s reserve currency (the dollar), without printing more money.

Over the past 30 years, central banks—as financial protection—significantly increased their dollar reserves, forcing the U.S. to inject massive amounts of new money into circulation, with constant risks of inflation and emergency measures.

The U.S. economy grew 3.8% in Q2 and is expected to maintain that trend in Q3, despite pessimistic forecasts from some economists, institutions, banks, and former White House advisers—mostly left-leaning.

Another accelerated Oval Office goal was to lower oil prices by boosting U.S. production to record levels above 13 million barrels per day and securing pacts with top oil-producing countries, mainly in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, October 15, U.S. crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) for November delivery fell 0.73% and closed at its lowest in five years at $58.27 per barrel, but the following day ended slightly higher at $57.54 with the same downward trend—a decisive factor in regulating inflation levels.

When Trump won the presidency in November 2024, the average price was above $72 per barrel.

China seems to be betting on pressuring Washington, implying it is in a favorable position—when the opposite is true.

Among the serious problems sinking the communist regime today are slowing consumption and production, largely due to the U.S. government’s Make America Great Again strategy and Master Economic Plan, which include reindustrialization, cryptocurrency regulation as an alternative financial tool, major foreign investment, rising gold prices, and lower fuel prices through record extraction, production, and exports.

Added to this are rare earth exploitation, structural reforms, new trade alternatives, oversight of previous administration overspending, tariff and national security policies, border closures, and cost reductions from curbing illegal immigration, among many other simultaneous measures.

Other obstacles facing the regime include westernization of much of its society—with a wealthy entrepreneurial class now seeking political power, and a middle class wanting to break free from the regime’s submission; a near-chronic real estate and industrial crisis due to overproduction; high youth unemployment; and a rapidly aging population without sources of renewal to sustain the economy’s frantic pace.

China has shifted from rapid growth to forced stagnation and industrial chaos. It now faces a paradox: the more its economy grows, the more its problems worsen, forcing it to brake automatically to avoid collapse.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is experiencing a resurgence of its economic-military, financial, and technological system, allowing it to play all its cards calmly and avoid mistakes—despite the boycott by a handful of senators under Chuck Schumer’s command, who have kept the federal budget hostage for three weeks, severely affecting hundreds of thousands of federal and military employees.

President Trump said he would not allow Democrats “to hold our brave and honorable military hostage,” so he issued a presidential order for special White House funds to pay their salaries, extending the order to emergency and national security personnel.

However, hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been affected since the last paycheck, along with key agencies.

The president began halting federal funds for far-left programs in states governed by that ideology, along with other urgent measures to strip financial power from Democratic senators, who once again want the exorbitant spending of four years ago.

House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated once more in a recent speech that the budget proposal was approved weeks ago in the House—a transparent, continuous, nonpartisan resolution, as Congress requires. “All this proposal does is maintain current funding levels for a few more weeks until a final project is completed.”

“The Democrats’ counterproposal demands an additional $1.5 trillion in spending—the same as four years ago, which drove the country into a massive fiscal and public crisis of more than $36 trillion and the worst inflation in five decades. That’s what they want again, but it won’t happen.”

“Democrats want illegal immigrants to access taxpayer-funded healthcare at an annual cost of $200 billion. It’s on page 57, section 2141 of their counterproposal.”

“It eliminates the active work requirement for independent young men and allows them to continue receiving Medicaid benefits, which should go to vulnerable populations such as seniors, disabled individuals, and young pregnant women—not healthy, independent young men playing video games at home. It’s simple, it’s common sense. The Democrats’ counterproposal would reverse that, so taxpayers would once again fund them.”

“They also want all COVID-era Obamacare subsidies, with no income limits and no other reforms. They want them permanently. That would cost taxpayers an estimated $358 billion.”

“They also want to eliminate the $50 billion we approved to strengthen rural hospitals, but have asked for $500 million to fund liberal media for their political propaganda and $5 billion for international spending—including $24.6 million for ‘climate resilience’ in Honduras; $13.4 million for civic ‘participation’ in Zimbabwe; about $4 million to promote LGBTQ+ culture in the Western Balkans; $3 million to reduce desert locust risks in the Horn of Africa; and $2 million for the ‘Organization for Democratic Feminist Principles in Africa’… and so on, an endless nonsensical list. We will not accept any of this.”

“These are unserious proposals from unserious people who are playing games, while real Americans are harmed by the government shutdown.”

“Since becoming Senate Democratic leader in 2017, Chuck Schumer has voted for 29 of 30 continuing resolutions for federal funding. What has changed? His position is at stake. Schumer helped us avoid a shutdown in March by doing the right thing with practically the same resolution we propose today, but his radical base went crazy and hasn’t forgiven him. That’s why Chuck Schumer is keeping the government shut down—for political motivations and demands from the far left. An attempt to rehabilitate his image as Senate Democratic leader. He needs to show a fight against President Trump to keep his leftist base happy.”

“The process of temporary appropriations was conceived by the Founding Fathers as an exercise in good governance. They wanted members of Congress to have open, transparent, bipartisan debate while the final budget plan was studied line by line, so it would be used wisely.”

“And that’s precisely what Republicans want back. Before Democrats irresponsibly shut down the government for their own political ends, Republicans and Democrats were already engaged in dialogue and analysis processes.”

“In recent years, this has been used as political leverage instead of intelligent decision-making about taxpayers’ money. It has become a bad habit among Washington lawmakers.”

“That’s why when Schumer says we should negotiate, he’s demanding a backroom deal. He literally said we need the four congressional leaders to enter a room and settle the differences.”

“Schumer says this because that’s how Congress has worked for decades. He’s been in the Capitol since 1980… I was nine years old and in third grade when Schumer entered Congress. He represents the status quo, and now we are trying to break that way of operating so government works better for the people. He wants four people in a room to make a deal and impose it on everyone else. I won’t participate in that,” Johnson concluded.