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Bob Davis

@bobdavis187.bsky.social
363 followers 251 following 108 posts

Author of "Broken Engagement," interviews with top officials on U.S. China policy, and "Superpower Showdown" with @Lingling_Wei, the definitive account of Trump's trade war. bobdavisreports.com

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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Biden raised tariffs on EVs [to 100%], which was incredibly important. A lot of people in China thought this was a Trump position. I don’t even think they were convinced it was a Republican position. When they realized it’s a bipartisan position, was really important."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"You say [Trump is]mercurial. I don’t think it’s going to look that way in the history books. For 40 years he said he was going to take the US in a more nationalistic direction. When he got elected, he he carried it out. He's going to be seen as quite consistent."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Trump I USTR general counsel Stephen Vaughn explains Trump ll. Trump's rhetoric "and the way he manages the relationship, is because he wants to leave open the door for possible change on the other side. It’s like Reagan" dealing with Gorbachev. www.thewirechina.com/2026/09/20/s...
thewirechina.com
Stephen Vaughn on the U.S.-China Disconnect - The Wire China
The former Trump official argues that the president’s approach to China is working, and explains why time is on the American side as the U.S. and China continue to move apart.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Aside from the mechanics of the deal, it signals that the US is no longer trying to change China, as Trump 1 and other administrations did via traade deals, but would accept China's economic system as is.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
In time for the Xi-Trump summit, US and China are working out details of a "Board of Trade" to manage trade tensions. The two sides would start by picking each picking $30 bilion or $40 billion of imports that could see tariff cuts in a "30-for-30" deal. www.thewirechina.com/2026/05/07/t...
thewirechina.com
Trump’s Board of Trade Move Signals the U.S. has Given Up on Changing China - The Wire China
The U.S. president is set to agree on a new board of trade framework for U.S.-China commerce at his summit with Xi Jinping, but the details could prove tricky.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Are there any free traders any more in DC? Come join us at the Asia Society for a timely discussion of "managed trade," which is bound to be a big part of the Trump-Xi Jinping summit. May 12 at 9 am online. asiasociety.org/policy-insti...
asiasociety.org
Managed Trade 2.0: Lessons From Japan for the New U.S.-China Board of Trade
Please join the Asia Society Policy Institute for a virtual panel discussion with leading experts on managed trade.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
The UnlikelThe Unlikely Recovery of America’s China-Shocked Towns. Trump's twin projects of tariffs and immigration crackdowns don't get the credit. If anything, they threaten the recovery. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Unlikely Recovery of America’s China-Shocked Towns
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Trump has also signed deals with 9 trading partners that require them to align their trade policies with the U.S. —and against China. These are “the most detailed commitments on economic security ever included in a legally binding trade agreement,” Geoffrey Gertz, ex-Biden NSC.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Now Trump is trying to hatch a “preferential trade zone for critical minerals” of several dozen countries with rare-earth deposits. Biden also sought one too but never got it together. It requires lots of subsidies and even if it works it's "super-ugly" says PIIE's Chad Bown.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Trumpian chaos on trade conceals a wider bipartisan shift aimed at China, which dates back to the late Obama administration. Now it's coalitions of the willing-- which sometimes work out as poorly as Bush's invasion of Iraq. foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/06/t...
foreignpolicy.com
Free Trade Is Dead in Washington
Trumpian chaos conceals a wider bipartisan shift aimed at China.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Sullivan on China mil purges: "Do we end up with a new military leadership that is more likely to want to chomp at the bit when it comes to Taiwan? Is that what Xi is going for? There are some who believe the answer to that question is yes. I’m still in wait-and-see mode."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Sullivan on effectiveness of chip controls "There has been a concerted effort, driven by the Chinese govt and supported by voices in the U.S. and parts of the West, which says that resistance is futile… Why do they want the restrictions taken down? Because they are effective."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Sullivan: "There is absolutely no reason to telegraph so persistently that rare earths are a fatal weakness of the United States, which I don’t believe they are. We could have managed our way through this without throwing up our hands."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Sullivan: Trump is "interested in escalation and concession and then de-escalation. When China really pushed back hard, he thought, ‘Well, I’ve got to move to the de-escalation phase as rapidly as possible."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Jake Sullivan on China and Trump. He "is very sure footed, very confident, very assertive when it comes to countries he perceives as weaker. He is very unsure footed, very tentative and very willing to make concessions to to leaders he thinks are strong." www.thewirechina.com/2026/03/01/j...
thewirechina.com
Jake Sullivan on Keeping Ahead of China - The Wire China
Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan sets out what he was trying to achieve in dealing with Beijing, where he thinks Trump 2.0 has taken a wrong turn on China.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Although Trump thinks he can charm and cajole Xi Jinping and Putin, "I’m generally less confident in the ability of any American president to achieve breakthroughs through personal charm or personal diplomacy with capable and committed foes."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Feith lost his job in the Trump 2.0 NSC after Laura Loomer attacked him. How did feel personally? "I’m not interested much in the personal feelings of it. We all go into these political jobs to serve at the pleasure of the president. These are not entitlements," Feith says
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
"We have seen instances where senior officials have raised with the president good, hawkish measures to pursue vis-a-vis China, and the president has seemingly batted them down," including banning U.S. land sales to China, says Feith
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
China hawk David Feith, a Trump 1.0 alum: "Trump isn't pushing "his team to generate broad ideas to compete and change the terms of our relationship with China across the economic, trade, technology, diplomatic, military... domains the way we did," in Trump 1.0 www.thewirechina.com/2026/01/25/d...
thewirechina.com
David Feith on Trump 1.0 vs Trump 2.0 and China - The Wire China
The former official in both of the president’s terms discusses why Trump has become less hawkish on China, and his sudden departure from the administration last year.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Under Biden, when Brainard headed the NEC, she used a "70% rule" to guide recommendations on tariffs and subsidies. "When China had a global share in excess of 70%, it was like a red flashing signal because the global supply chain was excessively dependent on China."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
In the Obama years, Brainard was a top Treasury official. She says she urged tariffs to preserve then nascent- US solar industry. "We should have used the import surge tool, but that position was not accepted for reasons to do with broader foreign policy considerations."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Brainard: "When you erode the independence of the Federal Reserve, inflation will likely run higher for a period of time because people start to expect higher inflation. It becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Biden NEC chief and ex Fed vice chair Lael Brainard say tariff impact coming. Tariffs "They are just beginning to work their way through the pricing system." In Trump 1.0 "it took six to nine months for [China] tariffs to push prices up." www.thewirechina.com/2025/10/05/l...
thewirechina.com
Lael Brainard on Keeping the Dollar Dominant - The Wire China
The economic policy maker says the Trump administration's actions could threaten the greenback's role, and discusses the big bet the U.S. made in welcoming China into the WTO.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
I do a deep dive into the birth and death of engagement with China -- and (weirdly) the possible revival under Trump 2.0. It's the heart of my review of China scholar David Shambaugh's "Breaking the Engagement." chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/25/e...
chinabooksreview.com
What Happened to "Engagement" with China? | China Books Review
Since 1972, the U.S. has hoped that engaging with China would benefit both nations. That dream has burst. A new book performs an autopsy on engagement policy — but is it really dead?
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
China is heading for deflation. Somehow it thinks a political campaign focusing on something called “involution” will help stave off disaster. My latest. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The New Buzzword That’s Scaring China
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Two National Guardsmem with M16s at the Washington DC DuPont Circle metro entrance. A local is politely engaging with them and criticizing the deployment. Most importantly, Kristy Kreme at the entrance is safe.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
China reports that its GDP is growing at about 5%. Nope, says China researcher Rhodium Group. Actual GDP growth is about half that, at 2.8%. rhg.com/research/the...
rhg.com
The Strategic Logic of China’s Economic Data
Beijing knows it has a credibility problem Ten years ago this week, Rhodium Group published a landmark study of China’s economic data, Broken Abacus, discussing the rapid evolution of China’s statisti...
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Kudlow on global reaction to Trump tariffs: lot of people in the media wrote that all these countries were going to talk to China and walk away from the U.S. That didn’t happen. They didn’t go to China. It was like the global instinct was to go to America."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Kudlow on tariffs: "Let’s face it. A tariff is a tax, okay? I know everyone’s worried about inflation. I’m not. Tariffs historically are like taxes. They are recessionary. They are deflationary."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Kudlow on Trump/China: "For better or worse, Trump believes and still believes that he can do business with Xi Jinping on a very personal level. Trump is a trade hawk, but he wants to do business."
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Kudlow on Trump's original "Liberation Day" tariffs: "Cockamamie is not a bad word [for the tariffs] and it came from Navarro’s shop. I think I’ve used that word, cockamamie, myself. I was trying to figure the thing out and I couldn’t for the life of me.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Former Trump NEC Director Larry Kudlow: I always thought President Trump, was a little too personalized. A little too, ‘I can charm you into coming around to my point of view.’ There’s a place for that. But it’s just a place." www.thewirechina.com/2025/08/24/l...
thewirechina.com
Larry Kudlow on Trump, Xi, Putin and the future of global trade - The Wire China
The former National Economic Council head talks about whether a deal with China is in the cards during Trump's second term, and being a free trader as the U.S. turns to protectionism.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Yellen as Fed Chair on China: in 2016, investors thought there was a "Shanghai Protocol" to keep US rates low if China didn't devalue. "No. We did meet, and we understood the pressures that they were under... That doesn’t require a secret handshake agreement." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...
thewirechina.com
Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China
The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Yellen as Treasury Secretary on China: "Making changes [to boost consumption] would also ultimately make China less export-dependent... But in the visits that I had during the time that I was at Treasury, it became clear Xi doesn’t want to do that." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...
thewirechina.com
Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China
The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Janet Yellen on Biden WH decision-making and China. "In the economic area, he had very few meetings where the president and senior officials, including cabinet members, give their views and the president asks questions.There were virtually no meetings like that." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...
thewirechina.com
Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China
The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Janet Yellen on why should doesn't talk to Scott Bessent:"He has succeeded in undoing everything that was a priority of mine at Treasury." Bessent reply: "I couldn’t even tell you what Secretary Yellen’s China policy was, aside from consuming beer and mushrooms." www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/18/j...
thewirechina.com
Janet Yellen on the Challenges of Dealing With China, Trump — and Biden - The Wire China
The former Treasury Secretary and Fed chair discusses why tariffs won't work, her efforts to rebuild relations with China under Biden and her issues working within the administration.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
New York Times profiles @brunodebbie as he examined the enslavers in her family and worked with Eleanor Mire, whose family was one of the enslaved. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/u...
nytimes.com
She Confronted a History of Enslavers in Her Family. Here’s What Happened.
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Reposted by Bob Davis
Mike Chen @mikechenwriter.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
I have always wondered why a certain percentage of leftists only use Apple tech yet completely ignore the multiple human rights abuses, police states, and genocidal conditions created by China. Other major tech companies diversified in recent years from China but Apple refused.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
How China Captured Apple - A giant firm and a superpower have become deeply entangled. My review of a fine new book about how China and Apple truly operate. foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/a...
foreignpolicy.com
How China Captured Apple
A giant firm and a superpower have become deeply entangled.
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Reposted by Bob Davis
New York Review Books @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
This is a fascinating story. We're reissuing The Ten Thousand Leaves: Poems from the Man'yōshū, the oldest collection of Japanese poems, translated by Ian Hideo Levy when he was 32 (and finalist of the National Book Award for Translation in 1982), in July.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Thanks so much!
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Thanks.
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Reposted by Bob Davis
Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
The story of how Ian Levy, a suburban teenager from the D.C. area, transformed into Levy Hideo, a celebrated Tokyo novelist who lives and writes in Japanese. Even in the long history of the Jewish diaspora, Hideo's tale stands out. momentmag.com/searching-fo...
momentmag.com
Searching for Levy Hideo
Levy Hideo, born Ian Hideo Levy, left the United States and gave birth to a genre in Japan known as “border-crossing” literature.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
The story of how Ian Levy, a suburban teenager from the D.C. area, transformed into Levy Hideo, a celebrated Tokyo novelist who lives and writes in Japanese. Even in the long history of the Jewish diaspora, Hideo's tale stands out. momentmag.com/searching-fo...
momentmag.com
Searching for Levy Hideo
Levy Hideo, born Ian Hideo Levy, left the United States and gave birth to a genre in Japan known as “border-crossing” literature.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
China's insistence on face sometimes backfires, but now it might help them. “They may be running the clock,” said Daniel Bahar, a Trump 1 trade official. "That creates leverage with Trump because of the political pressure he faces" and gives China more info on deals with others.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
As if US-China relations weren't already complicated, China's need to save face is crucial, and Trump's too. “To really understand what’s going to happen, you need a psychologist—not a policy analyst,” said CFR's Matthew Goodman. foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/09/c...
foreignpolicy.com
Both Xi and Trump Want the Other to Call Them First
A conflict over face is tangling up the trade war’s resolution.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Vietnam won the last Trump-China trade war. Will it win again? Or maybe Mexico? India? Malaysia? Some other country that will suddenly be a China favorite? Maybe some down-on-its-luck African nation
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Hmm, so Chinese exports to the US fell by 21% because of Trump tariffs and rose 21% to SE Asia. To fill out the story, we will soon learn exports from SE Asia rose a lot too. Transshipment and investment in SE Asia is a big way China avoids Trump tariffs. www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Great reporting on China's book scene by @rachel_cheung1. So much political and commercial pressure that older, safer books get republished rather than newer ones which could mean trouble for independent publishers. www.thewirechina.com/2025/05/04/a...
thewirechina.com
“A Vicious Cycle” - The Wire China
Squeezed by commercial and political pressures, China’s book publishers face an existential crisis.
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Bob Davis @bobdavis187.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Lighthizer, who was careful to follow existing trade law and procedures — and opposed reliance on “emergencies”— in Trump 1.0 said he was sued 4,000 times. “ I was 4,000-0,” he said about the outcomes.
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