“Bai lan” is a Chinese colloquial expression that means “let it rot” or “let it decay.” In contemporary terms, it represents a phenomenon in China’s culture that describes an apathetic mindset and disposition to accept a deteriorating situation rather than engage in any effort to improve it.
It’s analogous to the effects Trump’s tariffs can have on China. Allow me to explain.
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President Donald Trump started his political ambitions with a simple declaration: Make America great again. Over his presidential terms, this included confronting China on various economic issues, mainly concentrating on how the country has exploited the United States and our country’s (remaining) manufacturing capabilities and supply chain troubles for years.
Trump’s tariffs on trade with China have caused geopolitical uncertainty worldwide. However, in doing so, he helped expose the cracks in American society. Wall Street was rattled, but Main Street rejoiced (when they were not listening to the Left’s incessant doomsday forecasting).
The objective of these tariffs, of course, was to facilitate much-needed change in the economic world order and slowly but surely start to wean America’s economy off its dependence on Beijing. This required strategic, long-term thinking that would benefit the country’s workforce and return manufacturing jobs to the country. This process began on “Liberation Day,” April 2, 2025, making Wall Street apoplectic.
The “Masters of the Universe” are very content with throwing American industry to the wolves in exchange for profits from importing inexpensive Chinese goods manufactured by slave labor or near slave labor. Moreover, the titans of Wall Street felt no remorse for offshoring factory jobs. “Let the Rust Belt rust” was a common refrain to the changing economic landscape. Replace factories with casinos, they proclaimed. It was a symptom of the globalist push for a new post-industrial U.S., a push from which China reaped significant economic benefits.
Trump’s tariff plans and disruption of the China supply chain racket unexpectedly threw a wrench into China’s plans.
One of the fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic was the startling realization that the U.S. was far too dependent on China. Our country’s supply chain was at its mercy. The decadeslong push to elevate China’s economic production left the U.S. vulnerable. Trump is hellbent on trying to change this reality. Wall Street’s greed, left-wing political temper tantrums, and deceitful messaging have challenged Trump’s benevolent intentions.
Instead of embracing the president’s efforts to “make America’s economy great again,” the titans of Wall Street and their weak-minded, short-sighted followers did what they always do: panic. They are a fickle bunch who negatively affected the investments of millions of people in the country, stemming from economic timidity, resistance to change, and an inability to assess long-term progress and changes. So they became frightened and sold their stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to save themselves.
Of course, if they had any backbone, they’d realize that they are not avoiding bankruptcy; they are causing it. They are incapable of comprehending that what is good for America is good for them. They refuse to realize that their beloved 46,000 Dow is a function of an unsustainable $36 trillion national debt and trade deficits.
Trump’s efforts are predicated on a course correction before the U.S. experiences “bai lan” or worse, suffers a fate similar to Rome in 410 A.D. and the Roman Empire in the fifth century. The little secret that liberals, Democrats, left-wingers, and their accomplices in the legacy media will not reveal is that Trump’s tariffs are hurting an already weakened Chinese economy.
China is currently experiencing deflation. The unemployment rate is about 5%, with youth unemployment at a staggering 16.9% as of February 2025 (nearly twice the U.S. rate of 9.4%). Moreover, Goldman Sachs cut China’s GDP forecast to 4% in 2025, and Citi analysts also cut China’s growth to about 4.2%. Additionally, according to CNBC, the fallout in China from Trump’s tariffs “threatens to drive the world’s second-largest economy into deeper deflation.”
Furthermore, Trump’s tariffs have hurt Chinese companies’ profitability due to the “recent influx of discounted goods” that were supposed to be shipped to the U.S. This could also significantly affect China’s unemployment rate in the future. Also, the economic uncertainty over job prospects in the Chinese economy, related to the tariffs, has contributed to “weak consumer demand.”
“After hovering just above zero in 2023 and 2024, the consumer price index slipped into negative territory, declining for two consecutive months in February and March,” noted CNBC. This is on top of the producer price index in China, which declined for the 29th consecutive month. And while much of this damage predates Trump’s tariffs, the 2.5% drop experienced in March, compared to last year, was “its steepest decline in four months” — arguably a correlation to Trump’s tariffs.
Adding to China’s woes are the possibility of Chinese stocks being delisted from American stock exchanges and recent trade negotiations between the U.S. and countries such as India and Italy.
Bai lan, indeed.
Like many of the criticisms against Trump, people do not want to give his plans time to flourish. There is an instant gratification standard that Trump’s opponents don’t uphold on their political agendas. Give Trump time for his agenda to succeed.
So far, while these things have been underreported — and purposely so — the tariffs have been having their desired effect. Instead of resisting, let’s embrace Trump’s strategy and observe as China continues to “bai lan.”