Washington hopes to convince other countries to limit economic and trade relations with China in exchange for lower US tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing its sources.
According to their information, the US plans to convince more than 70 countries to ban Chinese companies from being based on their territory and from supplying their goods through them. Washington also wants its trading partners to stop “absorbing cheap industrial goods from China“. To this end, the US will promise to reduce import tariffs.
One of the authors of this idea is US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. He presented his plan to US President Donald Trump on April 6. Besant hopes to weaken China's economy, isolate it, and force it to make concessions.
On April 9, Trump announced that he was postponing additional import tariffs imposed on a reciprocal basis on several countries and territories for 90 days. The White House explained that the pause was related to trade negotiations, during which a "universal tariff of 10%" would be in effect.