- President Trump outlined his demands for China to avoid a 100% tariff hike next month, calling for more U.S. soybean purchases and action on fentanyl, while insisting Beijing “has to give us things” in return for easing trade tensions. Yet China’s growing economic strength has undercut Washington’s leverage: Chinese GDP rose 5.2% in the first three-quarters of 2025, and exports to non-U.S. markets surged 14.8% even as shipments to America fell. Beijing’s diversification strategy suggests it is weathering the tariff war far better than Trump may have anticipated.
This weekend President Trump laid down the law on what he wants from China in order to ease restrictions in the tit-for-tat tariff war, which has been ramping up since he returned to the Oval Office. But for all the president’s demands, his leverage over Beijing is showing cracks as the Chinese economy continues to go from strength to strength.
