By Joe Cash and Xiuhao Chen
BEIJING, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Donald Trump unexpectedly held off tariffs on China on his first day back at the White House and did not single it out as a threat, raising the prospect of a rapprochement as both sides look to gain from each other rather than rain harm on an adversary.
In a speech after his inauguration, the U.S. president refrained from mentioning China, its erstwhile opponent in a previous trade war, even as he said tariffs would make the United States “rich as hell”, leaving the door open for fresh negotiations with the world’s second-largest economy.
Trump also delayed the ban on China-owned short-video app TikTok, but in an unprecedented move, suggested that the U.S. should be a half owner of TikTok’s U.S. business in return for keeping the app alive, saying the company could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
As Trump begins his second term, Beijing and Washington find themselves needing a new roadmap to advance their goals and guard their interests, analysts say, although previously unresolved issues such as the 2020 trade deal could jar the currently cordial undertones.