President Donald Trump 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 America’s trading partners.
By contrast, China enjoys stronger economic and strategic advantages than it did before President Trump began his second term. The president’s chaotic tariff policy was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court and has failed to rebalance America’s economic relationship with China. At the same time, it has seriously weakened the global coalition of American allies and partners needed to confront Beijing’s unfair economic policies.
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Despite Trump’s tariffs, the U.S. global goods trade deficit increased to a record high of $1.23 trillion last year — more than $105 billion over the average goods deficit under President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, China’s 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 — often illegally — to the United States through third countries, a concerning trend the Trump administration has failed to address.
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The administration’s chaotic policies have harmed American manufacturers, farmers, and port workers — critical groups for America’s competition with China that President Trump claimed his policies would help. Since he returned to office, U.S. manufacturers 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. Trump’s 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 after meeting with Xi in South Korea last year.
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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. Trump’s visit to China may prove yet another instance of his art of the squeal — 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. China’s suppression of labor rights and wages, including the use of forced labor, is particularly devastating for U.S. workers.
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Trump must be particularly forceful in demanding these changes to Beijing’s 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 China’s permanent normal trade relations status, which gives China privileged access into the U.S. market.
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In the meantime, we should impose antidumping and countervailing duties as well as targeted tariffs in sectors where China’s overcapacity and other unfair practices threaten U.S. interests. Most importantly, we should invest revenue from those tariffs in a new fund for rebuilding domestic manufacturing in critical industries.
Trump must also clearly communicate to Xi that his escalating threats against Taiwan are unacceptable and that any war would be a disaster. Unfortunately, Trump’s war in Iran, which is costing American taxpayers an estimated $1 billion per day, has forced the Pentagon to pull important capabilities from the Indo-Pacific, weakening effective deterrence. His administration’s decision to delay an important arms sale package to Taiwan ahead of his trip and failure to mention Taiwan in its National Defense Strategy likely further embolden Xi.
Rather than abandoning our partners, Trump should bring America’s allies together to counter China’s nonmarket practices, revitalize the industrial bases of America and our allies, and push back against China’s efforts to creep towards hegemony in Asia.
Any deal President Trump considers with China must put America’s workers, farmers and families first and include a clear commitment to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific. An outcome short of that would make for yet another failed summit with Xi and put America’s economy and our friends in only greater jeopardy.