In time for the Xi-Trump summit, US and China are working out details of a "Board of Trade" to manage trade tensions. The two sides would start by picking each picking $30 bilion or $40 billion of imports that could see tariff cuts in a "30-for-30" deal. www.thewirechina.com/2026/05/07/t...

Trump’s Board of Trade Move Signals the U.S. has Given Up on Changing China - The Wire China

The U.S. president is set to agree on a new board of trade framework for U.S.-China commerce at his summit with Xi Jinping, but the details could prove tricky.

thewirechina.com

Are there any free traders any more in DC? Come join us at the Asia Society for a timely discussion of "managed trade," which is bound to be a big part of the Trump-Xi Jinping summit. May 12 at 9 am online. asiasociety.org/policy-insti...

Managed Trade 2.0: Lessons From Japan for the New U.S.-China Board of Trade

Please join the Asia Society Policy Institute for a virtual panel discussion with leading experts on managed trade.

asiasociety.org

The UnlikelThe Unlikely Recovery of America’s China-Shocked Towns. Trump's twin projects of tariffs and immigration crackdowns don't get the credit. If anything, they threaten the recovery. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/o...

Opinion | The Unlikely Recovery of America’s China-Shocked Towns

nytimes.com

Trumpian chaos on trade conceals a wider bipartisan shift aimed at China, which dates back to the late Obama administration. Now it's coalitions of the willing-- which sometimes work out as poorly as Bush's invasion of Iraq. foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/06/t...

Free Trade Is Dead in Washington

Trumpian chaos conceals a wider bipartisan shift aimed at China.

foreignpolicy.com

Jake Sullivan on China and Trump. He "is very sure footed, very confident, very assertive when it comes to countries he perceives as weaker. He is very unsure footed, very tentative and very willing to make concessions to to leaders he thinks are strong." www.thewirechina.com/2026/03/01/j...

Jake Sullivan on Keeping Ahead of China - The Wire China

Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan sets out what he was trying to achieve in dealing with Beijing, where he thinks Trump 2.0 has taken a wrong turn on China.

thewirechina.com

China hawk David Feith, a Trump 1.0 alum: "Trump isn't pushing "his team to generate broad ideas to compete and change the terms of our relationship with China across the economic, trade, technology, diplomatic, military... domains the way we did," in Trump 1.0 www.thewirechina.com/2026/01/25/d...

David Feith on Trump 1.0 vs Trump 2.0 and China - The Wire China

The former official in both of the president’s terms discusses why Trump has become less hawkish on China, and his sudden departure from the administration last year.

thewirechina.com

Biden NEC chief and ex Fed vice chair Lael Brainard say tariff impact coming. Tariffs "They are just beginning to work their way through the pricing system." In Trump 1.0 "it took six to nine months for [China] tariffs to push prices up." www.thewirechina.com/2025/10/05/l...

Lael Brainard on Keeping the Dollar Dominant - The Wire China

The economic policy maker says the Trump administration's actions could threaten the greenback's role, and discusses the big bet the U.S. made in welcoming China into the WTO.

thewirechina.com

I do a deep dive into the birth and death of engagement with China -- and (weirdly) the possible revival under Trump 2.0. It's the heart of my review of China scholar David Shambaugh's "Breaking the Engagement." chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/25/e...

What Happened to "Engagement" with China? | China Books Review

Since 1972, the U.S. has hoped that engaging with China would benefit both nations. That dream has burst. A new book performs an autopsy on engagement policy — but is it really dead?

chinabooksreview.com

China is heading for deflation. Somehow it thinks a political campaign focusing on something called “involution” will help stave off disaster. My latest. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...

Opinion | The New Buzzword That’s Scaring China

nytimes.com

Two National Guardsmem with M16s at the Washington DC DuPont Circle metro entrance. A local is politely engaging with them and criticizing the deployment. Most importantly, Kristy Kreme at the entrance is safe.

China reports that its GDP is growing at about 5%. Nope, says China researcher Rhodium Group. Actual GDP growth is about half that, at 2.8%. rhg.com/research/the...

The Strategic Logic of China’s Economic Data

Beijing knows it has a credibility problem Ten years ago this week, Rhodium Group published a landmark study of China’s economic data, Broken Abacus, discussing the rapid evolution of China’s statisti...

rhg.com

Former Trump NEC Director Larry Kudlow: I always thought President Trump, was a little too personalized. A little too, ‘I can charm you into coming around to my point of view.’ There’s a place for that. But it’s just a place." www.thewirechina.com/2025/08/24/l...

Larry Kudlow on Trump, Xi, Putin and the future of global trade - The Wire China

The former National Economic Council head talks about whether a deal with China is in the cards during Trump's second term, and being a free trader as the U.S. turns to protectionism.

thewirechina.com

Yellen as Fed Chair on China: in 2016, investors thought there was a "Shanghai Protocol" to keep US rates low if China didn't devalue. "No. We did meet, and we understood the pressures that they were under... That doesn’t require a secret handshake agreement." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...

Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China

The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.

thewirechina.com

Yellen as Treasury Secretary on China: "Making changes [to boost consumption] would also ultimately make China less export-dependent... But in the visits that I had during the time that I was at Treasury, it became clear Xi doesn’t want to do that." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...

Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China

The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.

thewirechina.com

Janet Yellen on Biden WH decision-making and China. "In the economic area, he had very few meetings where the president and senior officials, including cabinet members, give their views and the president asks questions.There were virtually no meetings like that." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...

Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China

The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.

thewirechina.com

Janet Yellen on why should doesn't talk to Scott Bessent:"He has succeeded in undoing everything that was a priority of mine at Treasury." Bessent reply: "I couldn’t even tell you what Secretary Yellen’s China policy was, aside from consuming beer and mushrooms." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...

Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China

The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.

thewirechina.com

New York Times profiles @brunodebbie as he examined the enslavers in her family and worked with Eleanor Mire, whose family was one of the enslaved. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/u...

She Confronted a History of Enslavers in Her Family. Here’s What Happened.

nytimes.com

I have always wondered why a certain percentage of leftists only use Apple tech yet completely ignore the multiple human rights abuses, police states, and genocidal conditions created by China. Other major tech companies diversified in recent years from China but Apple refused.

Bob Davis@bobdavis187.bsky.social · last yr.

How China Captured Apple - A giant firm and a superpower have become deeply entangled. My review of a fine new book about how China and Apple truly operate. foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/a...

How China Captured Apple - A giant firm and a superpower have become deeply entangled. My review of a fine new book about how China and Apple truly operate. foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/a...

How China Captured Apple

A giant firm and a superpower have become deeply entangled.

foreignpolicy.com

This is a fascinating story. We're reissuing The Ten Thousand Leaves: Poems from the Man'yōshū, the oldest collection of Japanese poems, translated by Ian Hideo Levy when he was 32 (and finalist of the National Book Award for Translation in 1982), in July.

Bob Davis@bobdavis187.bsky.social · last yr.

The story of how Ian Levy, a suburban teenager from the D.C. area, transformed into Levy Hideo, a celebrated Tokyo novelist who lives and writes in Japanese. Even in the long history of the Jewish diaspora, Hideo's tale stands out. momentmag.com/searching-fo...

The story of how Ian Levy, a suburban teenager from the D.C. area, transformed into Levy Hideo, a celebrated Tokyo novelist who lives and writes in Japanese. Even in the long history of the Jewish diaspora, Hideo's tale stands out. momentmag.com/searching-fo...

Searching for Levy Hideo

Levy Hideo, born Ian Hideo Levy, left the United States and gave birth to a genre in Japan known as “border-crossing” literature.

momentmag.com

The story of how Ian Levy, a suburban teenager from the D.C. area, transformed into Levy Hideo, a celebrated Tokyo novelist who lives and writes in Japanese. Even in the long history of the Jewish diaspora, Hideo's tale stands out. momentmag.com/searching-fo...

Searching for Levy Hideo

Levy Hideo, born Ian Hideo Levy, left the United States and gave birth to a genre in Japan known as “border-crossing” literature.

momentmag.com

As if US-China relations weren't already complicated, China's need to save face is crucial, and Trump's too. “To really understand what’s going to happen, you need a psychologist—not a policy analyst,” said CFR's Matthew Goodman. foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/09/c...

Both Xi and Trump Want the Other to Call Them First

A conflict over face is tangling up the trade war’s resolution.

foreignpolicy.com

Hmm, so Chinese exports to the US fell by 21% because of Trump tariffs and rose 21% to SE Asia. To fill out the story, we will soon learn exports from SE Asia rose a lot too. Transshipment and investment in SE Asia is a big way China avoids Trump tariffs. www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

Great reporting on China's book scene by @rachel_cheung1. So much political and commercial pressure that older, safer books get republished rather than newer ones which could mean trouble for independent publishers. www.thewirechina.com/2025/05/04/a...

“A Vicious Cycle” - The Wire China

Squeezed by commercial and political pressures, China’s book publishers face an existential crisis.

thewirechina.com

Around minute 48, former Trump U.S. Trade Rep. Lighthizer says that is a “reasonable possibility” a lower federal court will overturn Trump tariffs based on IEEPA, which requires an “emergency “ to act.Sup Ct might uphold the admin, he says. youtube.com/live/qLpUSMIN_… via @YouTube

Ex Trump NSC China chief Matt Turpin: "One of the reasons why I’ve advocated that we think of this as a cold war is that you understand what you’re trying to do is win a competition and avoid direct military conflict." www.thewirechina.com/2025/04/13/m...

A really uswful explainer about the crazy world of Trump tariffs www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Much Are Tariffs on Chinese Goods? It’s Trickier Than You Think.

The tariff rate on Chinese imports can be as high as 245% or zero, depending on the type of product that is being imported.

nytimes.com

A step-by-step guide to Donald Trump’s destruction of U.S. foreign policy. foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/07/t...

How to Ruin a Country

A step-by-step guide to Donald Trump’s destruction of U.S. foreign policy.

foreignpolicy.com

China expert Elizabeth Economy: Trump’s latest tariffs “may be the final nail in the coffin of US global leadership. Our only hope is that Xi scores enough own goals to stave off a permanent shift in the world’s political and economic center of gravity.” www.thewirechina.com/2025/04/06/e...

Elizabeth Economy on What the U.S. Should Want from China - The Wire China

The former Biden administration advisor on what she tried to achieve in government and what Trump is getting right and wrong about China.

thewirechina.com