Sinocism Live Sinocism Live: Rush Doshi on the Trump-Xi meeting and US-China Relations
9 snips
Oct 30, 2025 
Rush Doshi, a prominent expert in Asia studies, discusses the recent Trump-Xi meeting and its potential implications for US-China relations. He elaborates on some surprising concessions regarding tariffs and export controls, exploring how China's leverage over rare earths continues to pose challenges. Doshi also highlights shifts in perceptions and the need for the US to focus on domestic renewal alongside foreign policy. Additionally, he reflects on how the summit's outcomes may embolden China's confidence and reshape international alliances.
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Meeting Showed China's Supply-Chain Leverage
- The Trump–Xi meeting produced a package that rolled back some U.S. export-control pressure while securing Chinese commitments on soy and fentanyl cooperation.
- The deal signals China can wield supply-chain leverage, especially rare-earths, to extract concessions from the U.S.
Licensing Pause Leaves Leverage Intact
- China threatened a rare-earths licensing regime and then suggested a one-year postponement, creating leverage without fully committing to supply cuts.
- That creates ambiguous global effects because China can still restrict flows situationally via state-controlled producers.
U.S. Precedent: Negotiating Export Controls
- The U.S. offering to pause export-control expansions sets a new precedent of negotiating away national-security measures.
- That precedent may encourage China to view coercive supply measures as an effective bargaining tool.
