‘You Think We’re Afraid of America?’

“You think we’re afraid of America?” barked another. Xu’s company was inoculated from Trump’s tariffs for another reason: It had offshored manufacturing to Mexico in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s tariffs present China with the long-anticipated opportunity to pivot its economic engine from exports to consumption. A balanced economy means balanced trade: Chinese consumers buying European goods, and European consumers buying Chinese goods. In this trade war, China’s economic reformists see an opportunity to drive through changes that will rebalance its economy.