Trump’s Trade War With China: How We Got to a Stalemate In 3 Numbers

Follow live updates on President Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping in China.

President Trump came into office vowing to punish trading partners he accused of ripping off Americans. China was target No. 1, and he promised tariffs on Chinese goods far steeper than those on any other country.

One year later, the outcome is striking: China now faces roughly the same tariff rate as everyone else. A year ago, Mr. Trump’s import taxes on Chinese goods had climbed so high that trade between the two countries nearly froze and Chinese officials mocked the standoff as “a joke.”

Some Chinese goods still carry a set of tariffs left over from the first Trump administration, including sector-specific duties on steel, aluminum and other products. The average overall tariff on Chinese imports now stands at around 22 percent, according to Nomura, the Japanese bank. That is higher than the rest of the world, but far less than what Mr. Trump had threatened.

As leaders from the world’s two largest economies meet this week, China appears, at least for now, to have outmaneuvered the United States. Three numbers help explain how the two sides got here and what could come next.

125%

China’s peak retaliatory tariff rate

Mr. Trump vowed to “make China pay” in his second presidency.

He didn’t waste any time. In February 2025, he imposed an additional 20 percent tariff in an effort to force Beijing to curb the flow of fentanyl and its chemical precursors into the United States. Then in April, on “Liberation Day,” as Mr. Trump called it, he placed tariffs on nearly every country in the world, including a 34 percent levy on China.