The United States must continue to work closely with Asian allies and partners to deter Chinese coercion in the South China Sea, uphold freedom of commerce and navigation, and oppose unilateral actions that change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. It must also protect American workers and businesses from unfair trade practices and safeguard our technologies. At the same time, we must keep open channels of dialogue with China to reduce the risk of armed conflict and facilitate cooperation in pursuit of shared goals.
Call on Congress to responsibly manage the U.S.-China relationship by supporting diplomatic and security investments to deter Chinese coercion, sustaining appropriate export controls, opposing costly trade wars, and supporting high-level diplomacy between Washington and Beijing.
The Latest
Within months of entering office, President Trump reignited a trade war with China, threatening tariffs as high as 145% on all Chinese goods. In response, China proposed retaliatory tariffs as high as 125% on U.S. imports. While the two countries have negotiated temporary pauses on these triple-digit tariffs, which would devastate the American economy, the Trump administration has retained a 30% tariff on most Chinese goods that is pushing U.S. companies to the brink. Small businesses, unable to absorb the increased costs, are particularly hurt and have begun to close operations. Meanwhile, Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans and other agricultural items have plummeted, resulting in billions in lost revenue for American farmers. Despite the uncertainty caused by the administration’s ad hoc approach to tariffs, there has been little opposition from Congress.
On the security front, China continues to grow its military capabilities and assert a more aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, including around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. The Trump administration has yet to release its strategy on handling security issues related to China, but its initial steps to deepen cooperation with regional partners like South Korea, Japan, and India have been met with mixed results due in part to the administration’s coercive tariff and immigration policies. Economic issues have dominated high-level diplomatic discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials, a trend likely to continue in the runup to an expected meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in October. However, a bipartisan congressional delegation led by Rep. Adam Smith recently visited China and met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in a push to promote better communication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, providing an opening for the two countries to reduce the chance of miscalculation.
