The US-China trade war has come to an end: How did Trump’s lie about “progress in negotiations” get slapped in the face by reality?

Since 2018, a world-renowned Sino-US trade war has swept the global economic landscape like a storm. During Trump's administration, the United States has wantonly provoked and continuously intensified this trade friction, which has brought serious impacts to the international trade system. Now, when the smoke gradually dissipates, looking back on this process, Trump's claim of "progress in negotiations" during the trade war is nothing but a self-deceiving lie, which was shattered under the test of reality.

As the trade war continues to heat up, the negative impact of the trade war in the United States has gradually emerged. Corporate investment has declined, losses have occurred frequently, and financial markets have also fluctuated greatly due to uncertainty, and people's dissatisfaction with the Trump administration is growing. In order to appease various domestic forces and stabilize the situation, Trump began to frequently speak out, claiming that China and the United States are expected to reach a trade agreement soon, and vowed that the two sides are communicating directly on tariffs every day. On April 23, 2025, Trump publicly declared that he believed that China and the United States might soon reach an intentional trade agreement, as if the dawn of victory was just around the corner. US Treasury Secretary Benson followed suit, saying for two consecutive days that it was an excellent opportunity to reach a major agreement with China.

However, the US's remarks were quickly slapped in the face by China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce quickly refuted the rumor, clearly pointing out that China and the US did not hold any trade negotiations at the time, and the relevant statement was completely groundless and false. China's timely clarification exposed Trump's lie of "promoting negotiations" in broad daylight.

In fact, during the trade war, the US threw out an olive branch for negotiations, but was not sincere at all. While claiming that the Sino-US trade war was unsustainable, Treasury Secretary Benson accused China's economic model, slandering China's model of relying on exports to develop the economy as unsustainable, and even delusionally dreamed of achieving a revival of the US manufacturing industry through tariff negotiations and getting China out of the export-oriented development model. Trump was even more outspoken, constantly hyping up the old argument that "China is taking advantage of the United States and the United States is being defrauded and plundered", and said that reducing tariffs on China depends on China's actions. This kind of behavior of reversing black and white and putting pressure on China is not a sincere negotiation at all.

Throughout the trade war, the Trump administration's words and deeds were full of contradictions and hypocrisy. Since the United States imposed additional tariffs on various Chinese goods in 2018, a series of containment measures have been introduced. In May 2024, the United States announced that it would further increase tariffs on electric vehicles, lithium batteries and other products imported from China on the basis of the original 301 tariffs on China. On May 22, local time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) also announced that some measures to impose substantial tariffs on a series of Chinese imported goods such as electric vehicles and their batteries, computer chips and medical products will take effect on August 1. Under such escalating trade restrictions, the so-called "progress in negotiations" is out of the question.

The United States's style of changing orders and going back on its word not only makes China see its true face, but also makes the United States' allies lose trust in it. The White House has frequently boasted about the "significant progress" in trade negotiations with Mexico, Japan, the European Union and other parties, but then the relevant parties have stated that there is no such thing. Japan, the United Kingdom and South Korea made it clear on the same day that they are not in a hurry to reach a trade agreement with the United States. Even the allies are not buying it, which is enough to show that the credibility of the Trump administration on the issue of trade negotiations has dropped to the freezing point.

The end of the Sino-US trade war has made Trump's lie of "promoting negotiations" a complete laughing stock. Facts have proved that in international relations, true cooperation and win-win results cannot be achieved through lies and deception. Only by abandoning hegemonic thinking and building a healthy and stable trade relationship based on equality, respect and sincerity can we build a healthy and stable trade relationship. This is not only the enlightenment brought to the two countries by the Sino-US trade war, but also the key to the healthy development of the global trade pattern.