Trump's trade battle with China in 2025

U.S. president Donald Trump targeted China, the top economic rival with a cascade tariff order on billions in imported goods. The orders were aimed at narrowing an enormous trade deficit, bringing manufacturing back and crippling fentanyl traffic.

The reverse chronological timeline below shows the U.S. - China trade war in this year.

China starts collecting port fees for vessels with a U.S. connection on October 14. Ships built in China are exempted. On the same date, the U.S. will also implement an additional port fee for Chinese ships.

Beijing claims it informed Washington about its new rare earths control measures before announcing them on October 9. It also says that the issue was discussed at the working level as recently as 13 October. Beijing criticizes the U.S. because it wants to talk while making threats.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary, says that plans for Trump to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in South Korea in late October are still on track.

He said that there were many meetings between the two countries and they had been in contact over the weekend.

U.S. trade representative Jamison Greer said that after China announced it would expand its rare earths export control, the U.S. had reached out to China via phone but Beijing declined. China criticizes the new U.S. trade tariffs and defends their export restrictions.

On October 10, Trump re-starts the trade war by imposing additional tariffs of 100% on China’s U.S. bound exports and new export controls for "any critical software" on November 1. This will end an uneasy truce that was reached between both countries in August.

Trump has said that there is no need to meet with Xi, but he also did not cancel the plans to meet.

Trump says that the United States may also impose export controls for Boeing parts in response to China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals.

China has launched an antitrust investigation against U.S. chip manufacturer Qualcomm for its acquisition of Israeli chip designer Autotalks.

China will begin charging port fees for vessels owned, operated, constructed, or flown by the United States as a countermeasure against U.S. fees charged on ships with ties to China starting on October 14.

China will expand its export controls on rare earths starting November 8, to include five additional medium-to-heavy rare earth elements. It has also increased scrutiny of semiconductor users. This is a further tightening of China's grip and dominance over the minerals that are key to the energy transformation.

The Trump administration wants to ban Chinese airlines from flying above Russia on routes between the United States and Russia, claiming that the shorter flight times put American carriers at an unfair disadvantage.

Trump hopes to discuss soya beans with Xi, but warns that the U.S. could halt a significant share of its imports from China.

U.S. lawmakers demand broader bans for chipmaking equipment exported to China following a bipartisan report that found Chinese chipmakers purchased sophisticated gear worth $38 billion last year.

Trump said that soybeans will be a main topic of conversation when he meets Xi on October 1. China has drastically reduced U.S. purchases of soybeans, which Trump called a negotiation strategy.

Greer said that around 55% of tariffs applied to Chinese imports is a "good state-of-the-art" but the U.S. wanted bilateral trade to be more free. However, she did not indicate any immediate moves towards lowering Trump’s tariffs.

Bessent, a Bessent, says that aircraft parts and engines, as well as certain chemicals, can be a powerful tool for the United States to use in negotiations with China.

The first time since 2019 that a group of U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers visited China to talk, is on September 21. The group said to Premier Li Qiang that both the largest economies in the world need to "break the ice" and increase engagement.

September 19 - Trump holds a telephone call with Xi, following which Trump says they have made progress in a TikTok deal and will meet face-toface in South Korea in six weeks to discuss trade and illicit drugs, as well as Russia's conflict in Ukraine.

China has welcomed the commercial negotiations on TikTok that are in line with market rules.

China announces that it will review TikTok’s technology exports, and its intellectual property licensing. It calls the framework agreement reached "win-win".

September 15 – U.S. and China agree on a framework to transfer TikTok under U.S. control. This decision will be confirmed by Trump and Xi in a phone call later this week.

Bessent said that the Trump administration would not impose tariffs on Chinese products over Russian oil imports, unless European countries imposed tariffs first.

September 14 - Bessent, China's Vice Premier He Lifeng and the Spanish government lead a fourth round in Madrid of discussions to discuss trade relations as well as TikTok’s impending divestiture deadline.

Trump and his administration ask the G7, EU, and NATO to put pressure on China to impose tariffs between 50% and 100% in order to stop Russian oil revenues.

U.S. and China extend tariff truce by another 90 days.

August 10 - Trump asks China to quadruple their soybean purchases from the U.S., as the expiration date of the trade truce is approaching on August 12.

U.S. begins issuing licenses to Nvidia for exporting H20 chips to China on August 8.

Bessent is "optimistic", according to Bessent, about the future.

After two days of discussions in Stockholm, U.S. officials and Chinese officials agreed to extend their 90-day truce on tariffs. The talks were described as constructive by both sides, but there was no significant breakthrough.

U.S. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick announced that Nvidia will resume sales of their advanced AI H20 chip to China in the U.S. rare earths negotiations, reversing an export ban by the U.S. in April.

Trump threatens to impose an additional 10% tariff against countries that he says are aligning themselves with "Anti-American Policies" of BRICS. This includes China.

Bessent reports that the U.S. has resolved its issues with China regarding rare earth minerals, magnets and shipments into the U.S.

From June 11-12, some Chinese rare earths producers will begin receiving export licenses. Trump announces that a truce on trade is now back on track.

The U.S.A. and China have a second round of negotiations in London, and they reach an agreement on a framework.

June 5, Xi and Trump have a phone call lasting an hour.

Trump claims that China has violated the Geneva agreement to reduce tariffs and Chinese restrictions on vital minerals exports. China denies the accusation and says the U.S. has introduced multiple "discriminatory" restrictive measures against China.

The U.S. will begin "aggressively," revoking Chinese student visas on May 28-29. The order also instructs a wide range of companies to cease shipping semiconductors, aviation equipment and design software to China.

Beijing and Washington have trade talks in Geneva over the weekend, May 10-12. Both sides issued a joint declaration agreeing to a 90 day pause in tariffs.

Tariffs between the U.S. and China will drop from 145% to 30%, while tariffs between China and the U.S. will be reduced to 10% from 125%. China has also agreed to remove non-tariff measures that have been imposed on the United States by China since April 2.

Nvidia reveals that U.S. officials told it that the H20 chip will require an export license for sales in China.

China raises its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%. It calls the Trump tariff strategy "a joke", and says it won't play any more "numbers games" with tariffs.

China announced that it would immediately restrict the importation of Hollywood movies on April 10.

China increases levies on U.S. imported goods to 84%, adds 12 U.S. firms to a list of companies that are prohibited from exporting dual-use products, and six additional U.S. entities to the "unreliable entity" list. This allows Beijing to take punitive measures against foreign entities.

The U.S. has increased tariffs on Chinese imports from 84% to 125%. China warns citizens not to travel to the U.S.

Tariffs for all Chinese imports are raised to 84%, up from 34% on April 8.

April 4: China announces that it will impose retaliatory duties of 34% on U.S. imports starting April 10, and export restrictions on certain rare earths. About 30 U.S. companies, mostly involved in the defence industry, were subject to restrictions.

Beijing has also suspended sorghum and poultry products from certain U.S. companies.

Trump increases global trade friction by imposing "liberation day tariffs" on April 2. He announced a 10% baseline for all imports as well as significantly higher duties against some countries. Trump will impose 34% tariffs on all Chinese products, which are set to go into effect on April 9th.

From May 2, the Trump administration will also end duty-free access to low-value shipments of goods from China and Hong Kong (known as "de minimis exemptions").

China retaliates with a 10-15% levied on U.S. agricultural exports. This affects about $21 billion of U.S. exports. Beijing also imposes restrictions on exports and investments for 25 U.S. companies, citing national security. It also bans the import of genetic sequencers made by U.S. medical device maker Illumina.

March 4 - U.S. increases tariffs by 20% on all Chinese imports.

China has responded with a range of measures that target U.S. companies, including Google and farm equipment manufacturers.

Beijing will also begin imposing levies on February 10 of 10% for some autos and crude oil, and 15% on the imports of coal and LNG from the United States. Beijing also imposes a 15% tax on imports of U.S. coal and LNG, as well as a 10% duty for crude oil and some autos. The new taxes will be implemented starting February 10.

Trump imposes tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods and 25% on those from Mexico and Canada on February 1, demanding that they reduce the flow fentanyl, illegal immigrants and other drugs into the U.S.

January 21: A day after taking the oath of office, Trump threatens to impose a 10% duty on Chinese imports. He cites the fentanyl coming from China. Reporting by Liz Lee, Shi Bu and Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar, Kate Mayberry and Jacqueline Wong

(source: Reuters)