Tom Jurkowsky, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, voiced concern about President Donald Trump’s diplomatic endeavours with China (“Trump’s chips to China deal compromises national security,” Dec. 30). This is an additional voice.
The president labeled his 2025 foreign policy “American First,” a coming Golden Age for America.
The president launched his global trade war in April. China retaliated with tit-for-tat tariff hikes and cut the supply of rare earths.
Within weeks, the president folded, agreeing to a mutual tariff reduction from 145% to 30%. Beijing continued wielding the rare earth weapon, securing further concessions from the president at the October summit with Xi.
In December, Trump acceded to a core Chinese demand without gaining anything in return, giving Nvidia permission to export H200 chips to China. The U.S. had denied China access to cutting-edge technologies for years, aiming to slow its progress in AI. As noted by Jurkowsky, the DeepSeek launch in January (a Chinese startup AI model as powerful as OpenAI’s ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost) made it clear China is catching up.
The U.S. may now be cut out of the world’s technology supply chains. China ends the year in pole position to become the world’s leader in AI.
The president’s poor policy-making gifted China another free bonus in the AI race. Data centers driving the AI revolution require vast quantities of electricity. The administration’s ban on new renewables projects and scrapping of Joe Biden’s clean energy incentives risk putting America at an energy disadvantage. China installed twice as much solar power as the rest of the world put together and will become the world’s first electrostate.
China’s most consequential victory is something no sentient person could have possibly foreseen. The president hit U.S. allies with tariffs, questioned security guarantees and threatened interference in their national politics. The result fractured the Western alliance, a vital source of U.S. power.
Separately, China’s ally, Russia, stands to gain from Trump’s idiotic attempt to impose a one-sided peace deal on Ukraine.
Elsewhere, much of the Global South, not least India, seeks closer ties with China due to the tariff debacle.
Help us better understand which country is on the cusp of a new Golden Age, dear U.S. leader, “For good or for ill.”
— Nick James, Baltimore
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