Donald Trump's trade war with China is producing one of the most tantalizing split screens in the history of global economics.

On one, the US president is going full bore against China and threatening a 104% tariff. This includes Vice President JD Vance dismissing the 1.4 billion-plus people generating the gross domestic product of Asia's biggest economy as "Chinese peasants."

On the other is Trump's apparent willingness to talk to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other nations cowering in fear over reciprocal tariffs.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba rushed key economic ministers, including Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, to Washington to try to talk Trump out of tariffs sure to deal a huge blow to Japan's export-heavy economy. 

As US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, "Japan is a very important military ally. They're a very important economic ally, and the US has a lot of history with them. So I would expect that Japan is going to get priority just because they came forward very quickly."

South Korea is doing the same. On Tuesday, Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo said he and Trump had a "great call" about tariffs — Trump slapped a 25% tax on Seoul — and potential deals in energy and shipbuilding.

"We have the confines and probability of a great deal for both countries," Han says. On social media, Trump said, "things are looking good."

Trouble is, these two split-screen dramas will collide in short order as the "Tariff Man" attempts to knock China, the center of Asian trade, off its economic axis.

At least one thing seems certain: the odds of a giant US-China "grand bargain" trade deal are falling even faster than Trump's approval rating.

Trump threatening to add another 50% to China's already crushing 54% tariff level is the last thing Asia needs.