So the country that runs a trade *surplus* is 100% in the driver's seat when the country that has a massive trade *deficit* cries foul?

Absolutely. Nearly all of what China sells to us can be sold anywhere, and we only buy 15% of their exports. A lot of important things we buy from China can't be bought from other countries. We depend on China to provide things we can't get elsewhere, because they're not made elsewhere (or at least not in quantity).

China's problems can mostly be solved with money - making sure that the people who are made unemployed get enough support to make it through the trade war that someone else started. Ours cannot - we don't have a way to get people the stuff they will want to buy due to a trade war that we started.

Plus, China's an authoritarian country, and we're a democracy. Which means that the Chinese government will be able to insulate itself from public discontent in a way that the U.S. government cannot. If the Chinese government tells their populace that they have to accept being poorer because Trump decided to upend the global trade system, they will have to swallow it. If Trump tells the voters they have to accept being poorer because he wanted to upend the global trade system, they will punish the GOP in the midterms and vote a Democrat into office in 2028.

Also not correct. The Japanese and South Koreans are waiting for their elections before doing anything.

Nope. They made it very clear that the Administration couldn't articulate to them what they wanted. Here's a Fox correspondent making the point:

X (Twitter): Charles Gasparino on X: "BREAKING: Japanese negotiators are complaining that the problem with the trade negotiations with the White House, what's delaying