You Thought Japan Was Tough? Wait Until You Meet the Communists.
If you thought the deal you’re structuring with Japan was hard enough, take a step back and think about the rest of Asia.
Because if Tokyo and Seoul — two of America’s closest allies — are already proving reluctant to truly open up, what exactly do you think you’re going to get from the communist economies surrounding them?
Let’s be direct: China, Vietnam, Laos, and North Korea operate on control, not cooperation. Their systems are built around manipulation, not market transparency.
Your intuition about tariffs was right from the start — they should have been the bare minimum standard, not something to bargain away later. Every time you negotiate downward, you aren’t building relationships; you’re lowering defenses.
You will be disappointed, again, if you keep setting the bar where they want it rather than where it needs to be.
I’ve already provided the blueprint for how to compete against these structures — and to your own peril, you’ve ignored it.
You cannot befriend them into openness.
You cannot ally with central planners who view concessions as weakness. They have no incentive to open their markets — but you have every incentive to protect your own.
Everything they’re doing is a con job, dressed in diplomacy.
And believing otherwise isn’t optimism — it’s regression.
For decades, the U.S. Treasury has subsidized socialism and communism worldwide, sometimes without even realizing it. For goodness’ sake, the Federal Reserve stays open while the government shuts down — how’s that for irony?
The very institutions meant to safeguard free markets have been underwriting their opposites.
You thought dealing with Russia was hard.
You thought managing China was complex.
They’re the same archetype — a state built on control, opacity, and leverage.