- Every Nation, including China, wants to meet, says Trump
- Scott Bessent shares details about the US-Japan trade deal
- Meanwhile, oil trade turnover between China and Canada rises
Every Nation, including China, wants to meet, says Trump, and Scott Bessent shares details about negotiations on a trade deal between the US and Japan that is very focused on the US economy.
However, perhaps wishing to hedge against more potentially drastic new decisions by Donald Trump – partners are building up parallel imports. For example, China has cut oil imports from the US in record numbers and has ramped up imports from Canada.
More About US Trade Deals Advance with Partners Like Japan & Competitors Like China
Things are going incredibly fast, and recently, Trump was about to raise tariffs against China to an incredible 245%. Today, Trump is informing us of significant progress on new trade terms with several countries. Specifically, in his Truth Social post, stating:
“Had a very productive call with the President of Mexico yesterday. Likewise, I met with the highest level Japanese Trade Representatives. It was a very productive meeting. Every Nation, including China, wants to meet! Today, Italy!”
And if we’ll come back to China, because despite Trump’s statement it’s not so clear-cut – it seems to be doing better with Japan. Readout of the call from the Japanese prime minister’s office said Shigeru Ishiba:
“Expressed strong concerns that the tariff measures by the U.S. could weaken investment capacity among Japanese companies. Noting Japan has been the largest investor in the U.S. for the past five years.”
Scott Bessent also shared some details:
But back to China, while the huge tariffs are still in place, and the 90-day relaxation does not remove them completely, so tariff pioneers like Canada are finding ways to make trade more resilient to the sharp US retaliation. In particular, China has cut its oil imports from the US by a record 90% and has increased trade with Canada.
Vancouver soared to an unprecedented 7.3 million barrels in March and is on pace to exceed that figure this month, while U.S. oil has collapsed to 3 million barrels a month, according to data from Vortexa Ltd.
Wenran Jiang, president of the Canada-China Energy & Environment Forum, said:
“Given the trade war, it’s unlikely for China to import more U.S. oil. They are not going to bank on Russia alone or Middle Eastern alone. Anything from Canada will be welcome news.”
Conclusion
Well, it seems to many – albeit late and with record collateral damage to markets – that Trump’s drastic actions are forcing countries to negotiate new trade terms with the US.
However, not everyone sees the US as the only solution, I’m working through alternatives in case of more surprises or failed negotiations, which is pretty sensible.
We too are constantly reminding you to update your strategy and diversify your risks, only here we have a similar thing on a national level.
Also, I would not expect much easing for China, because it is a key economic competitor for the US, which is unlikely to be helped to grow its economy.
