Expert reveals America's 'secret weapon' against long-term competition with China

There are two likely outcomes of the looming trade talks between the U.S. and China, but only one "secret weapon" to hedge against long-term competition with the growing adversary, according to one foreign policy expert.

"It's going to be a test of the two different theories put forward in our country about how weak China is," Fox News contributor and Heritage Foundation senior fellow on China strategy Michael Pillsbury said on "Varney & Co." Monday ahead of the high-stakes meeting. "Within a few hours, I think we're gonna find out who's right and who's wrong."

"The key for our side is unleashing our own economy," he noted. "There's just a whole series of things that President Trump has already started. That's going to be our sort of secret sauce or secret weapon in this kind of long-term competition with China."

President Donald Trump announced Friday on Truth Social that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer will head to London on Monday to continue trade talks with China after both nations installed tit-for-tat duty taxes on one another.

LIVE UPDATES: STOCKS SLIGHTLY HIGHER AS INVESTORS EYE U.S.-CHINA TRADE TALKS

Trump leveled tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods following the president's reciprocal tariff plans in April, when China retaliated against the U.S. with tariffs of its own. China and the U.S. reached a preliminary trade agreement last month, which Trump said China violated in a Truth Social post at the end of May.

The planned meeting comes after Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday to discuss trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

"You've got one set of commentators. I call them extremists. They portray China as weak, about to collapse, unemployment just in a terrible situation. And they use the word desperate; 'China is desperate to make a deal.' If that's the case, these talks will only last two or three hours," Pillsbury weighed in.

"The one I think is actually happening, China is actually quite strong," he further cautioned. "They've discovered this rare earth card they can play that makes us desperate."

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In a worst-case scenario, American chip and battery manufacturers and rare earth factories could be "shut down" entirely, Pillsbury also warned.

"These talks today are going to give us a clue [about] just how strong China is and just how we are. We'll be looking for it. That's the gamble that's going to be taking place."

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Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.