Why China has the upper hand in its trade war with America
A truce is still possible, but no one wants to be first to pick up the phone

“HAVE YOU heard of the eye of the storm?” asks a video posted on April 29th by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The centre of a tornado or cyclone can be deceptively calm. But it is actually a “deadly trap”. The world is caught in a similar spot, the ministry argues, thanks to the “tariff storm” America has conjured up.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Battle ready ”
Finance & economics
May 3rd 2025- Why China has the upper hand in its trade war with America
- America may be just weeks away from a mighty economic shock
- Vladimir Putin’s money machine is sputtering
- How a mortgage transforms your investment portfolio
- A takeover bid promises consolidation in Italian finance
- The risky world of private assets opens up to retail investors
- Why economists should like booze

From the May 3rd 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Want to be a good explorer? Study economics
The battle to reduce risk has shaped centuries of ventures

Jane Street is chucked out of India. Other firms should be nervous
Around the world, marketmakers now face extra scrutiny

Japan has been hit by investing fever
Will old folk catch the bug?
Don’t invest through the rearview mirror
Markets are supposed to look forward; plenty of investors look back instead
Trump’s trade deals try a creative way to hobble China
To appease the world’s biggest market, countries must anger the world’s biggest trader
The great dealmaker is conspicuously short of trade deals
Donald Trump issues threats—and grants deadline extensions