⚔ Geopolitics risk-on · 6–18 months
A what‑if from the future

What if the US and China strike a sweeping trade détente?

Tariff-rollback risk-on: a US-China detente lifts the most tariff-exposed names — semis, Nasdaq, China megacaps (BABA) — and bids the yuan as trade-war drag lifts. Rhyme is the Jan-2020 Phase One signing, which rallied semis and CNY before COVID overwhelmed it. Transmission: China is the export hub and bears the adjustment via CNY, while US tech reclaims supply-chain certainty; forward angle — tariffs are now structurally higher post-2025 100%+ peak, so a 'comprehensive' rollback is a bigger positive surprise than 2019-20, but credibility/durability is the catch — fade if it's a truce, not a treaty.

28%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 28% · 90% range 16–41% · 40 analogues · measured class geo_deescalation 94% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — geo_deescalation ≈1.8868/yr → 94% in 18 mo94%
Analyst prior · editorial share 32% of the class30%
Pooled · weight 87%29%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)29%
Published28%

The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 6–18 months horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.

loading the timeline…

What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a risk-on shock. The US and China announce a comprehensive trade détente and tariff rollback. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Trade tension ▼ · Geopolitical risk ▼ · China growth ▲ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

If it happens — the markets it would move

Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.

MarketClassProjected move
1Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartVol▼ -5.3%
hist -4.35–-1.42% · other way -6.67% (n=12)
2Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▲ +4.7%
hist +0.79–+2.52% · other way -0.72% (n=12)
3Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +3.8%
hist +1.35–+2.36% · other way -0.75% (n=12)
4Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▲ +3.3%
hist +0.21–+1.39% · other way -0.2% (n=12)
5Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +3.2%
hist +0.82–+2.74% · other way -2.19% (n=12)
6TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +3.0%
hist +0.62–+2.03% · other way +0.24% (n=12)
7AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +2.5%
hist -3.13–+2.03% · other way -2.82% (n=12)
8Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +2.5%
hist +0.32–+2.86% · other way +2.0% (n=12)
9Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +2.5%
hist +0.36–+1.68% · other way -3.03% (n=12)
10Marvell MRVLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +2.5%
hist +0.04–+1.79% · other way -1.7% (n=12)
11Alibaba BABAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +2.2%
hist +0.26–+2.51% · other way -0.48% (n=12)
12ASML ASMLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +2.3%
hist -2.12–+1.61% · other way -1.89% (n=12)
13Chinese yuan CNY 📈 chartFX▲ +1.6%
hist -0.06–+0.66% · other way -0.47% (n=12)
14Qualcomm QCOMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▲ +1.7%
hist -2.9–+0.96% · other way -3.11% (n=12)

Probable recommendation

If the scenario above plays out, the probable cross‑asset positioning → a scenario‑conditional read, not personalized investment advice
For a common-man portfolio: A typical stock-heavy portfolio should benefit. Stay invested; you can lean modestly into the beneficiaries below.
Also moves (not yet on Hyperliquid): Tech sector +3.3% · Chinese yuan +1.6% · Freeport (copper) +1.1% · Aussie dollar +1.0% · Turkish lira +0.8% · Indian rupee +0.7%

Why we may diverge from history

Trust history's short on ETH: n=12, 0.93 hit, clean on-channel tariff/trade windows (2018-19 + 2025) all printed -7 to -26% — the cascade's risk-on long over-reaches a numerous, recent sample.

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 40 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.

Platinum hits an 11-year high on Chinese jewelry demand and deficit 2025-06 India RBI growth-pivot rate cut 2025-12 Record $19bn crypto liquidation cascade 2025-10 Bitcoin tops $111,970 for a new all-time high 2025-05 US bars Nvidia H20 AI-chip exports to China 2025-04 DeepSeek shock crushes AI-power utilities Vistra and Constellation 2025-01 Nasdaq Composite first close above 20000 2024-12 US October 2022 advanced-computing chip rules tighten further 2024-12 S&P 500 first close above 6000 2024-11 Palladium jumps after US pushes G7 sanctions on Russian metal 2024-10 China 'bazooka' stimulus package 2024-09 China imposes antimony export controls 2024-08 Nikkei 225 record single-day rebound 2024-08 Alphabet announces its first-ever dividend 2024-04 Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russian refineries, lifting crude and gasoline 2024-03 S&P 500 first close above 5000 2024-02 Evergrande ordered to liquidate 2024-01 Neuralink implants its first human brain-computer interface 2024-01 Nifty 50 first crosses 20000 2023-09 Netherlands restricts ASML DUV lithography exports to China 2023-09 LK-99 room-temperature superconductor claim 2023-07 China imposes gallium and germanium export controls 2023-07 Nifty 50 first crosses 19000 2023-06 Strong May 2023 jobs report jolts yields higher 2023-06 Nvidia AI-guidance blowout ignites the automation/AI capex wave 2023-05 China bars Micron from critical infrastructure after security review 2023-05 Alibaba announces historic split into six business units 2023-03 OpenAI releases GPT-4 2023-03 NIF achieves fusion ignition 2022-12 Lithium carbonate price peaks near 597,000 RMB/t 2022-11 US export controls on advanced chips to China 2022-10 PBOC sets yuan fix at weakest since 2008 2022-09 European TTF gas hits all-time record high 2022-08 China homebuyer mortgage boycott spreads 2022-07 Tesla Q2 2022 deliveries fall on Shanghai COVID lockdown 2022-07 Sunac China dollar-bond default 2022-05 China internet stocks stage record rally on Liu He support pledge 2022-03 China delisting fears spike as SEC names first HFCAA firms 2022-03 Bank of England's first post-pandemic rate hike 2021-12 Evergrande declared in default on offshore bonds 2021-12
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
USDJPY USDJPYLONG+1.1% · 5d +0.0%73%40 0.42⚠ differs
JPM JPMLONG+1.6% · 5d -0.6% ↺ fades73%40 0.38✓ matches cascade
10y yield DGS10LONG+16bp · 5d +2bp73%40 0.38·
CNY CNYSHORT-0.5% · 5d -0.1%68%40 0.36⚠ differs
QCOM QCOMSHORT-2.9% · 5d -2.0%73%40 0.34⚠ differs
LMT LMTSHORT-2.1% · 5d -3.0%71%40 0.33✓ matches cascade
XLK XLKSHORT-0.7% · 5d -0.7%68%40 0.30⚠ differs
INTC INTCSHORT-2.9% · 5d -2.2%68%40 0.30⚠ differs
KRW KRWSHORT-0.4% · 5d +0.1% ↺ fades66%40 0.26⚠ differs
SPX SPXLONG+1.0% · 5d +0.5%63%40 0.24✓ matches cascade
XPD XPDSHORT-1.0% · 5d -1.4%63%40 0.23⚠ differs
SOL SOLSHORT-5.7% · 5d -8.8%66%40 0.22⚠ differs
AMD AMDSHORT-3.9% · 5d -1.9%63%40 0.21⚠ differs
ASML ASMLSHORT-2.9% · 5d -1.5%63%40 0.21⚠ differs

Why this probability

US-China truces already recurring (Geneva, extensions); comprehensive rollback harder; 18mo. A base‑rate‑anchored prior, continuously scored against what actually happens — not a forecast.

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Crowd odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-07-03.