Faustian bargain coming home to roost for US firms

In the chess game of global politics, China just flipped the board. Beijing slapped sanctions on 28 US companies, including defense giants Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. Framed as safeguarding national security, the move underscores China’s growing confidence. It believes America now needs its economy as much as China needs America’s. In short, China has reached economic parity.

Think Russia’s nuclear deterrence — any tariff war or economic clash risks mutually assured destruction (MAD).

For years, US corporations lined up like kids at a candy store, drooling for a taste of China’s market. In return, they sold out — not just their corporate values, but the democratic principles that made them. But that access to China’s economy made them pawns in Beijing’s long game. They subjected themselves to the whims of Chinese autocracy, whereas foreign companies are allowed to thrive under American democracy.

Xi is calling Trump’s bluff with bullying tactics of his own

Xi Jinping just served notice — there’s a new superpower on the world stage. Putin used troll farms to meddle in US elections. But Xi is using economic leverage and tools like TikTok that act as digital Trojan horses, which pose far greater danger.

But I cannot overstate that Xi is just feeding Trump a dose of his own strongman medicine. Since his reelection, Trump has been busy bullying allies and enemies alike. He’s threatening to make Canada a 51st state just because, buy Greenland like it’s on Zillow, retake the Panama Canal if tolls aren’t to his liking, and slap 100% tariffs on China and BRIC nations if they sideline the dollar.

Xi’s response is clear — two can play this game. And, unlike Trump’s quixotic bluster, Xi’s sanctions have teeth. And so, at long last, the US can no longer roam the globe dishing out sanctions like a schoolmarm caning unruly boys.

Trump triggered a high-stakes duel. And US firms that danced with the fire-breathing dragon are now getting burned.