China Announces they will not back down

"Yes. Well, first of all, the economy did not grow by 5.0% as reported last year. It was maybe around 1% or so. And now there's been a clear deterioration since the end of last year.

So China is basically at zero, probably in contraction, as we can see from its downward deflationary spiral. But even if they were growing at the reported rate, it wouldn't be enough to reduce their debt. Basically, John, I think you're right. China is going through its own 2008 right now.

In 2008, they didn’t want to go through a recession, so they overstimulated the economy. Now they have too much debt—maybe up to 400% of GDP, total national debt relative to GDP. So they’re really in a position where they don’t have good options. They need to export to the U.S. market. Trump has said no, they won’t, because with tariffs above 100%, which will be the case tomorrow, most Chinese products won’t reach the U.S. market."

From the Republican Party's perspective, China's response to the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump is seen as confirmation of the need to maintain a firm stance against the Chinese regime. Republicans believe that China's retaliation, which includes increased tariffs and restrictions on American products entering the Chinese market, proves that previous policies of appeasement had not yielded effective results.

The Republican Party, particularly through Trump, has defended the need to implement high tariffs to pressure China into changing its trade practices, which Republicans argue are characterized by intellectual property theft, unfair practices, and failure to honor international agreements. From this perspective, these measures are necessary to reduce America's dependency on China and protect U.S. jobs and industries.

Republicans do not see China's measures as a setback, but rather as a reaffirmation that the Trump administration is making the right decisions by prioritizing American workers and businesses. Additionally, they believe these policies have the backing of much of the American public, who are frustrated by global trade policies that, according to them, have disproportionately benefited other nations while the U.S. faced trade imbalances and job losses.

Although the conflict has created economic uncertainty, particularly with additional restrictions on American tech companies like Google, Republicans insist that short-term sacrifices will be worth it to achieve a stronger, less China-dependent economy. The Republican narrative emphasizes that the "America First" approach will ultimately lead to a more balanced and fair trade relationship with China, protecting the U.S. economy and promoting long-term competitiveness.