It is really unexpected that the positive attitude shown by the US side is just an appearance. The US Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State have spoken with China one after another. The fourth round of Sino-US economic and trade negotiations will be officially opened in Madrid, Spain on September 14, and the US Treasury Secretary also attended, but just before the Sino-US talks began, the US side played the "old routine" again.
On September 12, local time, the US Department of Commerce included several entities on the "entity list" for export control. The purpose is obviously to stage a "pressure drama" again before the talks. China is not used to this and simultaneously launched two countermeasures within 24 hours. One is to launch an anti-discrimination investigation on discriminatory measures in the US field of integrated circuits, and the other is to launch an anti-dumping investigation on imported analog chips from the US.
It can be seen that China is not ruthless in taking action this time. If the United States thinks that adding chips before the negotiations can make China make concessions, it is a mistake to make it.
The report said that the US sanctions this time cover semiconductors, aerospace and other fields, continuing its "small courtyard and high wall" strategy. On the one hand, it restricts China from obtaining advanced technology. On the other hand, the time point was very deliberate, and chose 48 hours before the Sino-US negotiations to try to "extreme pressure" on China. Not only that, the Trump administration recently made very unfriendly moves. During its meeting with G7 countries, it tried to win over G7 countries to jointly increase taxes on China, and even proposed that the EU impose 100% tariffs on China and India. Although Trump failed in the end, it also reflects that the US side is now in a desperate situation and is desperate.
Germany explicitly opposes "decoupling", Japan is worried about damage to automobile exports, and Canada only agrees to information sharing. In fact, the fierce trade war after Trump took office has shown that there is a fundamental conflict between the unilateralism of the US and the economic interests of its allies. The reaction of the US allies this time is very cold. On the one hand, it is because it is dissatisfied with the US side. On the other hand, the global supply chain is deeply bound to China and the cost of forced "decoupling" is not something these countries can bear.
For the US side's rogue behavior, not only did it not create a good atmosphere of peace talks before the Sino-US talks, but it had to make small plans and make small moves, which also shows that the US side's sincerity was almost zero. Then, China is no longer polite to this, launching a reciprocal countermeasure, directly pointing to the pain points of the United States, targeting the weaknesses of the United States in the key industrial chain fields, which also reflects China's initiative and precise strike capabilities in the game.
On the one hand, China announced that it would launch an anti-dumping investigation into the import of relevant analog chips originating from the United States. This time, it is a counterattack in the chip field. For the first time, China will extend the counter to the entire semiconductor industry chain. The investigation covers the US tariffs of 301 since 2018, the restrictive measures of the Chip and Science Act in 2022 and the AI chip ban in 2025, to crack down on the profit sources of US companies in advantageous markets such as analog chips.
On the other hand, China announced that it would launch an anti-discrimination investigation into the relevant measures of the United States in the field of integrated circuits in China. Currently, China's countermeasures rely on its systematic advantages. After the implementation rules of the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law were issued in March 2025, China extended the countermeasures to the integrated circuit field for the first time. Through an "anti-discrimination investigation", the US's violation of WTO rules was included in the legal framework, which further weakened its policy legitimacy. The above investigations were officially launched on September 13. From a time perspective, the sanctions against the United States are in front of each other. This shows that China has taken quick action and prepared well against the countermeasures taken by the United States.
But for the US, it is an unwise move to attack China before this talks, because from the perspective of the negotiation prospects between the two sides, the US is facing domestic inflation pressure, and Michigan has already unemployment wave due to tariffs, so the pressure is obviously greater.
Moreover, the differences between China and the United States on technological sovereignty and rule-making power are difficult to reconcile. If the US adheres to "technical protectionism", China may further tighten exports of key minerals and accelerate domestic substitution of semiconductors. It can be said that the US has few cards left, and China still has many countermeasures. Not only that, China has long had a certain degree of flexibility and adaptability in sanctions on the US. If the US thinks that through restrictive measures, it can make China concessions or prevent China's technological progress, it is really underestimated us.
The US's self-confidence advantage is still the old Cold War mentality of "sanctions-pressure", and China has gradually mastered the negotiation rhythm through the combination of "rare earths + law + industrial chain". The same thing is said, fight, open the door, talk, and accompany you to the end, but judging from this action, the credibility of the US side has declined significantly in the international community.
