Three weeks out from "liberation day" — when Donald Trump announced severe tariffs on US allies and adversaries alike — the president is reeling from a hard lesson about the global economy in 2025: that China, not the United States, is holding the leash on international trade.After a series of confusing financial escalations and retaliations, the White House now wants to substantially walk back its threatened tariff rate, which at one point rose as high as 245 percent."No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable" with tariff rates that high, Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told JP Morgan bigwigs at a closed door meeting in DC earlier this week.But while Trump has insisted that Chinese officials were negotiating to bring that number down, Beijing says it hasn't been in contact with the US at all — evidently content to watch as American businesses agonize in the wake of Trump's hystrionics. Trump has previously insinuated that Xi should "request a call" to discuss trade relations, evidently too proud to make the first move.At one time, officials in Beijing had hoped that Elon Musk, who has substantial business holdings in mainland China, might act as a go-between for Xi and Trump, avoiding the ugly business of tariffs altogether.That's obviously out the window now. Instead, China has reportedly considered whether to "kneecap" US tech companies like Tesla, Apple, Qualcomm, and Intel, according to a CNN analysis, but has so far backed off for fear of upsetting Chinese consumers. Still, US tech companies are bearing the brunt of the tariff whiplash, as Chinese-made consumer goods like iPhones skyrocket in price, and China halts the export of rare earth metals, to Musk's horror.China, meanwhile, seems well positioned to wait out the storm. It currently dominates the global electric vehicle market, has legions of manufacturing robots at its disposal, and boasts a record-breaking freight rail system to keep its supply chain running.Average Americans might not be in such a good spot. In the three weeks since liberation day, shipping container traffic from China to the US seems to be plummeting. Weekly cargo bookings bound for the US from Chinese manufacturers are reportedly down as much as 60 percent across all industries, signaling doom for Americans used to cheap consumer goods.As Trump carries on his game of chicken with Xi, it remains to be seen: will the American tycoon fold under the pressure, or will he bide his time while the US plunges into financial ruin? Time will tell.More on China: China Fires Up World's First Thorium-Powered Nuclear ReactorShare This Article