President announced he will head to Beijing in May with the United States likely still dealing with the economic fallout from his reckless and costly war against Iran. Gas prices are rising, the stock market is tumbling, and American manufacturers, farmers and families are paying more for essential items as Trump continues to impose sweeping tariffs on Americas trading partners. Â
By contrast, China enjoys stronger economic and strategic advantages than it did before President Trump began his second term. The presidents chaotic tariff policy was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court and has failed to rebalance Americas economic relationship with China. At the same time, it has seriously weakened the global coalition of American allies and partners needed to confront Beijings unfair economic policies.
Despite Trumps tariffs, the U.S. global goods trade deficit increased to a record high of $1.23 trillion last year â more than $105 billion over the average goods deficit under President . Meanwhile, Chinas trade surplus with the world ballooned, rising to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion in 2025 from $992 billion in 2024.
Although the bilateral U.S. trade deficit with China shrank, China now simply reroutes many of its goods â often illegally â to the United States through third countries, a concerning trend the Trump administration has failed to address.
The administrations chaotic policies have harmed American manufacturers, farmers, and port workers â critical groups for Americas competition with China that President Trump claimed his policies would help. Since he returned to office, have shed approximately 100,000 jobs and manufacturing construction has declined by 12%.
American farmers have lost more than $14 billion in sales to China and paid over $4 billion in higher input costs. Trumps impulsive trade actions toward China have hit soybean farmers particularly hard: in 2025, China bought a paltry 7.4 tons of U.S. soybeans, down from 26.8 million tons in 2024.
Momentum to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which has drawn support from both political parties and major industrial unions, has also stalled after Trump suspended critical fees on Chinese ships in South Korea last year.
The president has further jeopardized the prospects for workers at U.S. shipyards and ports by attacking the offshore wind industry, which has been forced to cancel ship orders and job contracts after his administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars in government support.
In short, Trump has done little to level the playing field with China and address its non-market policies that led to an estimated 3.7 million Americans losing good-paying jobs and contributed to nearly 70,000 U.S. factories shuttering between 2001 and 2018. In fact, he has made things worse. may prove yet another instance of his art of the squeal â not art of the deal.
When he meets with Xi, Trump should start by demanding the Chinese Communist Party agree to rebalance our economic relationship and play by the same rules as we do. This means operating on market-oriented principles, upholding basic human rights and ceasing to distort markets with blanket subsidies, illegal dumping, intellectual property theft and currency manipulation. Chinas suppression of labor rights and wages, including the use of forced labor, is particularly devastating for U.S. workers.
Trump must be particularly forceful in demanding these changes to Beijings policies in the rare earths sector, where its price manipulation, heavy subsidization and lack of worker and environmental protections have stifled competition, giving the CCP a dangerous monopoly over an industry that underpins U.S. national defense and economic security.
If China does not support this constructive rebalancing of our relationship, we should be open to reviewing Chinas permanent normal trade relations status, which gives China privileged access into th
