"his gets to the larger problem with Mr. Trump’s tariff strategy—that is, he doesn’t have one. His latest walk-back shows he can’t bully China as he tried to do in his first term."

The book Lucky Loser details Trump's business career. Reneging on contracts ( and declaring
bankruptcy ) was his main business "strategy". Trump tried all kinds of cockamamie schemes, and
he would walk away from any debt without hesitation, leaving the lenders holding the bag.

The book Commander In Cheat detailed Trump's ceaseless cheating on the golf course, but the author
also talked about a time he visited Mara Lago. He noticed a long line of people waiting to have an individual word with Trump. These were worker-class folks, and it turned out that they were meeting with Trump to try and get him to pay something, anything, on the money he owed them for the work they had performed for him. They walked out with pennies on the dollar, relative to the agreed upon rate.

So yeah, as simple minded as it sounds, Trump really does think he can just bully foreign Countries into bending over to anything he wants. I mean, it's worked for him all of his life,lol.

And then there is the matter of Trump does not honor contracts that he signs. That includes trade pacts that he initiates ( see USMCA ). Why would any Country put any faith in any agreement
with Trump ??