“Sure would have been simpler, if Xi had simply agreed to buy a bunch more, from America.”
Xi has, for him, a life or death problem. His position is only safe as long as the Chinese economy...meaning the average person, is doing really well. If he does anything to rock the already leaking boat, he’ll be out of power. The Chinese economy is already in a huge bubble. Almost anything could pop that bubble. Instead of there being a win/win for him, there is likely only a bunch of lose/lose policies. Now, if he had played along with Trump, they probably could have worked something out. But, that’s not how the game is played.
I will argue that Xi is playing along with Trump. He is however playing slowly to maximize what he gets from the negotiations.
All in the trade war news is smoke, obsfuscation of the reality