The Triangle Group Co., Ltd, one of China's leading tire producers, found its monthly sales to the U.S. drop sharply to 100,000, from around 300,000 prior to the sanctions. The import and export data from the General Administration of Customs showed that China's tire export to the U.S. in September 2009 decreased by 37.5 percent over the same period of the previous year.

Dubbed the "first Obama era sanction," the case's negative impacts were not limited to the tire industry, but had a ripple effect across other industries and national borders. On the last day of 2009, the U.S. government decided to slam countervailing duties on Chinese steel pipes, its largest sanction so far; on February 8, it decided to impose up to a 231 percent anti-dumping tax on boxes and ribbons used for gift wrapping made in China's mainland; on February 24, the U.S. Department of Commerce reached the preliminary decision of imposing countervailing duties on seamless steel pipes imported from China. In January, India announced its own plan to formulate anti-dumping measures on made-in-China tires. Thus far, over 10 countries had followed the U.S. in carrying out investigations on China's tires.

As a countermeasure, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce revealed anti-dumping and countervailing measures on American exports of white-feather chicken products. "Against the backdrop of a slow economic recovery for the U.S., the American government is inclined to entertain trade litigation appeals by domestic enterprises against China. The Chinese steel, textile and agricultural industries are the most affected," said Zhang Guoqing. "As the two markets have become increasingly intertwined, they now share many common interests. Trade sanctions simply aren't helpful to either of them."

The tire sanctions fazed not only Chinese companies but also four American enterprises that have production bases in China. Those four companies produced two thirds of the Chinese tires exported to the U.S.

At this low ebb in Sino-US relations, Yang Jiechi made an appeal to China and the U.S. to work together to get relations back on track and headed toward positively inspired cooperation. China signaled the first willingness to do so. In mid February, the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz applied to dock in Hong Kong to conduct a 4-day supply and recharge operation. The Chinese government approved the request – to the shock of many international relations experts. Previously, at the end of 2007 when the two countries experienced similar tensions, China refused a similar request from the USS Kitty Hawk. In the Sino-US relations, more friendly steps like this would be welcome.