REP RO KHANNA: Trump needs to stop hurting American workers and stand up to China

President Donald Trump announced helium volition caput to Beijing successful May with the United States apt inactive dealing with the economical fallout from his reckless and costly warfare against Iran. Gas prices are rising, the banal marketplace is tumbling, and American manufacturers, farmers and families are paying much for indispensable items arsenic Trump continues to enforce sweeping tariffs connected America’s trading partners.  

By contrast, China enjoys stronger economical and strategical advantages than it did earlier President Trump began his 2nd term. The president’s chaotic tariff argumentation was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court and has failed to rebalance America’s economical narration with China. At the aforesaid time, it has earnestly weakened the planetary conjugation of American allies and partners needed to face Beijing’s unfair economical policies.

Despite Trump’s tariffs, the U.S. planetary goods commercialized shortage accrued to a grounds precocious of $1.23 trillion past twelvemonth — much than $105 cardinal implicit the mean goods shortage nether President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, China’s commercialized surplus with the satellite ballooned, rising to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion successful 2025 from $992 cardinal successful 2024.

Although the bilateral U.S. commercialized shortage with China shrank, China present simply reroutes galore of its goods — often illegally — to the United States done 3rd countries, a concerning inclination the Trump medication has failed to address.

TRUMP THREATENS 'MASSIVE' CHINA TARIFFS, SEES 'NO REASON' TO MEET WITH XI

President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping hole for a cardinal acme successful May. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images)

The administration’s chaotic policies person harmed American manufacturers, farmers, and larboard workers — captious groups for America’s contention with China that President Trump claimed his policies would help. Since helium returned to office, U.S. manufacturers person shed astir 100,000 jobs and manufacturing operation has declined by 12%.

American farmers person mislaid much than $14 cardinal successful income to China and paid implicit $4 cardinal successful higher input costs. Trump’s impulsive commercialized actions toward China person deed soybean farmers peculiarly hard: successful 2025, China bought a paltry 7.4 tons of U.S. soybeans, down from 26.8 cardinal tons successful 2024.

Momentum to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which has drawn enactment from some governmental parties and large concern unions, has besides stalled aft Trump suspended captious fees connected Chinese ships aft gathering with Xi successful South Korea past year.

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The president has further jeopardized the prospects for workers astatine U.S. shipyards and ports by attacking the offshore upwind industry, which has been forced to cancel vessel orders and occupation contracts aft his medication chopped hundreds of millions of dollars successful authorities support.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles (R) and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (L) look astatine their smartphones arsenic President Donald Trump speaks to the property astir a captious minerals stockpile with $12 cardinal successful archetypal funding, arsenic Washington seeks to little reliance connected China for uncommon earths and different resources, successful the Oval Office of the White House successful Washington, DC, connected Feb. 2, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

In short, Trump has done small to level the playing tract with China and code its non-market policies that led to an estimated 3.7 cardinal Americans losing good-paying jobs and contributed to astir 70,000 U.S. factories shuttering betwixt 2001 and 2018. In fact, helium has made things worse. Trump’s sojourn to China whitethorn beryllium yet different lawsuit of his creation of the squeal — not creation of the deal.

When helium meets with Xi, Trump should commencement by demanding the Chinese Communist Party hold to rebalance our economical narration and play by the aforesaid rules arsenic we do. This means operating connected market-oriented principles, upholding basal quality rights and ceasing to distort markets with broad subsidies, amerciable dumping, intelligence spot theft and currency manipulation. China’s suppression of labour rights and wages, including the usage of forced labor, is peculiarly devastating for U.S. workers.

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Trump indispensable beryllium peculiarly forceful successful demanding these changes to Beijing’s policies successful the uncommon earths sector, wherever its terms manipulation, dense subsidization and deficiency of idiosyncratic and biology protections person stifled competition, giving the CCP a unsafe monopoly implicit an manufacture that underpins U.S. nationalist defence and economical security.

If China does not enactment this constructive rebalancing of our relationship, we should beryllium unfastened to reviewing China’s imperishable mean commercialized relations status, which gives China privileged entree into the U.S. market.

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Momentum to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which has drawn enactment from some governmental parties and large concern unions, has besides stalled aft Trump suspended captious fees connected Chinese ships aft gathering with Xi successful South Korea past year.

In the meantime, we should enforce antidumping and countervailing duties arsenic good arsenic targeted tariffs successful sectors wherever China’s overcapacity and different unfair practices endanger U.S. interests. Most importantly, we should put gross from those tariffs successful a caller money for rebuilding home manufacturing successful captious industries.

Trump indispensable besides intelligibly pass to Xi that his escalating threats against Taiwan are unacceptable and that immoderate warfare would beryllium a disaster. Unfortunately, Trump’s warfare successful Iran, which is costing American taxpayers an estimated $1 cardinal per day, has forced the Pentagon to propulsion important capabilities from the Indo-Pacific, weakening effectual deterrence. His administration’s determination to hold an important arms merchantability bundle to Taiwan up of his travel and nonaccomplishment to notation Taiwan successful its National Defense Strategy apt further embolden Xi.

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Rather than abandoning our partners, Trump should bring America’s allies unneurotic to antagonistic China’s nonmarket practices, revitalize the concern bases of America and our allies, and propulsion backmost against China’s efforts to creep towards hegemony successful Asia.

Any woody President Trump considers with China indispensable enactment America’s workers, farmers and families archetypal and see a wide committedness to bid and information successful the Indo-Pacific. An result abbreviated of that would marque for yet different failed acme with Xi and enactment America’s system and our friends successful lone greater jeopardy.

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