External Imbalances

China's trade surplus is the real problem

(Shenzhen port)

In Trump’s tariff war, the only counterparty that really matters is China.

China was his principal target in his first term, when he imposed an average of 19.3 percent tariffs on $350 to $370 billion worth of Chinese goods. Biden kept these levies, then in May 2024 raised them for $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, mainly electric vehicles (EVs), solar cells, semiconductors and EV batteries.