However, China’s progress lit alarms. The White House stopped seeing him as a strategic partner and began to treat him as a rival. Since the arrival of Donald Trump to the Presidency in 2017, the commercial relationship between the United States and China is part of increasing tensions.
At that time, the US president accused the Asian giant of unfair practices and chose to impose tariffs as a pressure measure for more than 300,000 million dollars to Chinese products, in order to reduce the commercial deficit and stop the industrial progress of China.
Beijing responded with measures similar to American agricultural, energy and manufacturing products. In 2020, both countries signed phase one of a commercial agreement.
China promised to increase their purchases from American goods and Washington suspended new tariffs. However, the pact did not solve disputes over subsidies, intellectual property and access to the Chinese market.
With the arrival of Joe Biden in 2021, a turn was expected, but most tariffs remained. His administration adopted a strategic position of competing with China without climbing the tension, but neither without retreating.
In 2024, trade between the United States and China remained high, but companies began to move part of their production to countries such as Vietnam, India and Mexico. The economic relationship was no longer as narrow as before.
In Trump’s second mandate, commercial tension reached new levels, the last announcement was an increase in Chinese import tariffs, to raise them up to 145% . But certain technological products such as mobile phones, laptops, memory chips and semiconductor machinery were excluded from higher reciprocal tariffs.
Xi Jinping responded with tariffs up to 125% To American products, with entry into force on April 12.
While the financial markets are maintained nervously . The conflict threatens to prolong and deepen its impact on the world economy.
