291: Chapter 291 The Second Flame!

Bryson woke up instantly.

But his movements were noticeably sluggish for a few seconds, his eyes darting around, and while flipping through the phone book, he even missed the name of the Department of Commerce of China...

After two or three attempts, he finally found that savior-like number.

"Please connect me to Minister Chen. It's urgent..."

After the call connected, Bryson took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his tone calm and not let the other party hear his panic.

But as soon as he spoke, his momentum instantly dropped a notch.

"Minister Chen, isn't China's investigation a bit too hasty? We can sit down and talk."

Listening to the urgent voice on the other end of the phone, Minister Chen remained sitting steadily, and after leaving the other party hanging for a while...

"Mr. Bryson, was it hasty when the United States sanctioned Transsion? You added it to the Entity List just like that; did you talk to China?"

Bryson understood the subtext; this matter was not hasty at all. This was China's reciprocal countermeasure against the United States.

Since that was the case, it was actually easier to talk.

However, the high and mighty United States would not allow such... a simple bow of the head.

"The Transsion matter was something we considered carefully. Huaxin Investment used insider information to make trillions of dollars in the United States; this is the result of our four-year investigation. Moreover, there is a hidden hand behind it that has also siphoned off quite a few resources from the United States. This matter is absolutely correct. However, regarding Motorola, we can re-evaluate."

Hearing this, Minister Chen smiled even more brightly. Insider trading? Why the financial crisis happened—others might not know, but could the United States not understand?

I just didn't play well on the technical side, and as for that other big fish... that, of course, has nothing to do with China. Minister Chen felt a little guilty for a moment and quickly said.

"Alright then. First, lift the sanctions on Transsion and Huaxin. By the way, Motorola has already been sold, and next, you need to open import channels for Transsion. Then, the Chinese side can suspend the investigation."

"Revocation takes time, and Motorola was taken over by Chinese capital, so they didn't lose too much. As for importing Transsion..." Bryson hesitated. A shell was already this powerful, and a full-blooded version entering... "Regarding Transsion, we need to re-evaluate... However, we can guarantee to open up Motorola."

"Then we have time too." Minister Chen interrupted him. "Everyone, what's going on? It's almost the peak export season for United States soybeans. Mr. Bryson, go back and ask the senators from the agricultural states if they can afford to wait."

After finishing, Minister Chen hung up the phone directly.

After hanging up, Bryson sat on the bed for a long time without moving.

This move by China was too ruthless!

Semiconductors are the United States' dominant industry, but agriculture is the United States' political lifeline.

Senators from agricultural states are a group that neither party dares to offend. If the soybeans cannot be sold, these senators will go crazy.

As for whether China would be affected if it stopped imports... They had already learned their lesson in 2004, and they still remembered this matter.

That morning, the White House held an emergency meeting.

Bryson reported the situation, and after hearing it, Obama grew increasingly disgusted with those hawkish representatives.

Are their brains filled with dung balls? To sanction a company that doesn't rely on the United States supply chain at all.

Now look at this, Huaxin Technology, this capital giant, can't get in, but their soybeans can't be sold either.

The senators from the agricultural states will definitely come here at the first opportunity and tear "it" to shreds.

Those idiots!

Everyone also clearly understood that this was China's retaliation, a naked retaliation.

Just as Obama was trying to find a solution, his trade advisor said: "Mr. President, the senators from the agricultural states have already started calling. The senator from Iowa said that if soybean exports are blocked, they will initiate a counter-vote against you in Congress. They say the voters in the agricultural states will stand with them."

Obama panicked; he was the one who had to bear the consequences of what those idiots did.

After all, the voting period was about to begin. It was late September, and voting would start in October. He had to resolve this matter within two months!

China was ruthless this time!

"Lift some of the sanctions first, let China suspend the investigation, and drag it out for now."

"Partial sanctions."

"Yes. Motorola has been sold, and Transsion has taken a step back, so we have also taken a step back. Transsion phones can enter the United States through imports, but they must comply with relevant rules. However, Huaxin Technology cannot be removed from the Entity List. Let go of all the assets those people want to freeze, but suggest that other United States capital use equivalent resources. I know there are many high-quality Chinese assets among those people, but... this matter cannot be dragged out. If I cannot be re-elected, their days won't be easy either. Tell them I am very angry about this matter."

Bryson lowered his head. At this moment, he felt he shouldn't be here, otherwise he wouldn't have heard these things he shouldn't have heard.

"Mr. President, what if Huang Tianya and the others don't agree?"

"Then that has nothing to do with us. We have already offered an extremely sincere proposal. In short, Huaxin Investment cannot step into the United States stock market ever again."

Although the two parties still had different opinions on other aspects, banning Huaxin Investment was a unanimous opinion.

"I will go handle it immediately."

When the news reached China, Shen Fei was still on the phone with Zhang Shiqing.

Li Qing pushed the door open and entered.

"Boss, the United States has taken a step back. They allow Transsion to enter the United States market through negotiations, and the ban on Motorola has been stopped."

Shen Fei repeated this to the other end of the phone and then asked: "What about the rest?"

"Nothing else has moved."

"Then this is useless; Motorola has already been sold. Huaxin Investment is the most important thing; they can't just fool us by removing something useless. Dad, call Minister Chen again. The United States' sincerity is not enough. Removing the restrictions on Motorola and allowing Transsion phones to be sold is not enough."

On the other end of the phone, Zhang Shiqing laughed: "Rest assured, Minister Chen knows what he is doing."

On September 30th, a few days after announcing the investigation, the Department of Commerce played another card.

They filed a lawsuit with the WTO, accusing the United States of violating Most-Favored-Nation treatment and national treatment.

The WTO's dispute settlement mechanism was activated very quickly.

Within three days, a panel was established within a week. This speed is extremely rare in the history of the WTO, indicating that other countries also couldn't stand the United States' long-arm jurisdiction and chose to join the group.

The complaint submitted by China was 300 pages long.

The core argument was simple: The United States' Entity List system has no clear legal basis, is highly arbitrary, discriminates against Chinese companies, and violates the WTO's non-discrimination principle.

What made the United States even more headache was that the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and other sidekicks all stood on China's side! The sidekicks had also rebelled!