China–United States trade war


The China–United States trade war is an ongoing economic conflict between China and the United States. President Donald Trump in 2018 began setting tariffs and other trade barriers on China with the goal of forcing it to make changes to what the U.S. says are "unfair trade practices" and their effects, including the growing trade deficit, the theft of intellectual property, and the forced transfer of American technology to China.
Since the 1980s, Trump has advocated tariffs to reduce the U.S. trade deficit and promote domestic manufacturing, saying the country was being "ripped off" by its trading partners; imposing tariffs became a major plank of his presidential campaign. A backgrounder by the Council of Foreign Relations said that while many economists and trade experts did not believe that trade deficits hurt the economy, others believed that sustained trade deficits were often a problem and there was substantial debate over how much of the trade deficit is caused by foreign governments as well as what policies, if any, should be pursued to reduce it. Nearly all economists who responded to surveys conducted by the Associated Press and Reuters said that Trump's tariffs would do more harm than good to the economy of the United States and some economists advocated for alternate means for the United States to address its trade deficit with China.
The trade war has negatively impacted the economies of both the United States and China. In the United States, it has led to higher prices for consumers and financial difficulties for farmers and manufacturers. In China, economic growth and growth of manufacturing activity have slowed to their lowest rates in decades. In other countries, it has also caused economic damage, although some countries have benefited from increased manufacturing to fill the gaps. It has also led to stock market instability. Governments around the world have taken steps to address some of the damage caused by the economic conflict.
The trade war has been criticized internationally. It has also been opposed by some American businesses and agricultural industries. However, most farmers continued to support Trump while the manufacturing industry's response has been mixed. Among U.S. politicians, some have disagreed with the tactics Trump is employing, but most agree with the goal of putting pressure on China.

Background

The United States and China are the world's two largest economies; the US has a larger nominal GDP, whereas China has a larger GDP when measured in terms of purchasing power parity. China is the world's largest exporter and the United States is the world's largest importer. They have so far been important pillars for the global economy.
By 1984, the United States had become China's third-largest trading partner, and China became America's 14th largest. However, the annual renewal of China's MFN status was constantly challenged by anti-Chinese pressure groups during US congressional hearings. For example, U.S. imports from China almost doubled within five years from $51.5 billion in 1996 to $102 billion in 2001. The American textile industry lobbied Congress for, and received, tariffs on Chinese textiles according to the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. In reaction to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests' suppression, the Bush I administration and Congress imposed administrative and legal constraints on investment, exports, and other trade relations with China.
In 1991, China only accounted for 1% of total US manufacturing spending. The Clinton presidency from 1992 started with an executive order that linked renewal of China's MFN status with seven human rights conditions, including "preservation of Tibetan indigenous religion and culture" and "access to prisons for international human rights organizations"—Clinton reversed this position a year later. In 2001 U.S. President George W. Bush visited in China on his first international trip since the September 11 attacks and China offered strong public support for the War on Terror in APEC China 2001. Bush advocated for China's entry into the World Trade Organization despite having to deal with the contemporaneous developments from the Hainan Island incident. According to an article in the Nikkei Asian Review, when the U.S. needed to issue a huge volume of bonds to stabilize the financial markets in the wake of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, it relied on China.

China joins the World Trade Organization

With the United States–China Relations Act of 2000, China was allowed to join WTO in 2001 and was given a most favoured nation status. President Bill Clinton in 2000 pushed Congress to approve the U.S.-China trade agreement and China's accession to the WTO, saying that more trade with China would advance America's economic interests.
However, his administration had accused the Chinese of failing to comply with global trade rules and demanded that the Chinese first resolve a list of outstanding trade grievances with Washington, including opening its markets and protecting copyrights and patents. Among the key issues were that China was a major source of pirated musical compact disks and video laser disks, along with virtually all the computer software sold in China. On intellectual property rights, there was no enforcement of China's written laws, and as a result the piracy and theft of American-produced music, videos and software was costing American companies $1 billion a year by 1994.
By 2000, Clinton said he was optimistic on achieving a fair agreement: "Economically, this agreement is the equivalent of a one-way street. It requires China to open its markets—with a fifth of the world’s population, potentially the biggest markets in the world—to both our products and services in unprecedented new ways," said Clinton. In a speech that year, he stated his hopes:

Conflicts after China joins the WTO

As a new member, China agreed to rapidly lower import tariffs and open its markets, although many trade officials doubted it would stand by those promises. China did cut tariffs after it joined the WTO, but it nonetheless continued to steal U.S. intellectual property and forced American companies to transfer technology to access the Chinese market, which were violations of WTO rules.
In 2008, the WTO issued a formal ruling against China for requiring foreign automakers operating there to buy most components from local suppliers or face higher tariffs, 25 percent, instead of the normal 10 percent. The WTO agreed that it amounted to an unfair discrimination against foreign parts, a violation of global trade rules. The original complaint was filed in 2006 by the European Union, the United States and Canada, by which time there had already been accusations against China for using a combination of subsidies, tax incentives and an undervalued currency to gain an unfair advantage over foreign companies operating in China.
China lowered its average import tariffs to 10% by 2005 from the 40% it maintained in the 1990s. In 2005 Chinese exports to the U.S. increased 31 percent, but imports from the U.S. rose only 16 percent. And while the U.S. trade deficit with China was $90.2 billion in 2001, it nearly doubled by 2005. In the four years after joining the WTO, China in general complied with many of its legal obligations, including passing laws and meeting deadlines. However, it was slow to enforce intellectual property rights and add transparency to its industrial rules and regulations, which made it difficult for U.S. businesses to access its market. By 2019 the estimated costs to the U.S. economy from Chinese IP theft was between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.
The Obama administration confronted other issues in 2010, when it opened an investigation into whether the Chinese government was subsidizing its alternative energy companies, such as solar and wind turbine, in violation of WTO guidelines that it agreed to. It was one of the first challenges of China's alleged efforts to control major growing industries. As explained by Obama's Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, "Green technology will be an engine for the jobs of the future, and this administration is committed to ensuring a level playing field for American workers."
United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said that those subsidies were in "direct violation" of WTO rules. Along with disallowed subsidies, Gerard pointed out that U.S. firms establishing joint ventures with Chinese companies must surrender technologies and designs as a condition of doing business:
When President Obama met with Chinese paramount leader Hu Jintao in 2011, officials were concerned that China was not acting in the free trade spirit it agreed to when it joined the WTO 10 years earlier. They proclaimed that China was still restricting foreign investment, avoiding national treatment of foreign firms, failing to protect intellectual property rights, and distorting trade with its government subsidies. There were also complaints by various lawmakers who wanted the administration to act against what they said was China's manipulating its currency, worried that it would allow China to underprice its exports and put American and other nations' manufacturing at a great disadvantage. The U.S.-China Business Council in 2014 said that China was restricting investment in more than 100 industrial sectors, including agriculture, petrochemicals and health services, while the U.S. was restricting investment outright in just five sectors.
A number of senators and congressmen wanted the White House to place tariffs on some of the underpriced Chinese imports, stating that if the administration wouldn't do so, they threatened to mandate some tariffs on their own. In a general poll sponsored by Allstate Insurance and the National Journal in 2010, thirty-six percent of the American population would support tariffs on imports and would penalize companies that moved jobs overseas.
By 2018, U.S. manufacturing jobs had decreased by almost 5 million since 2000, with the decline accelerating.

Trump administration's complaints

Since the 1980s, President Trump has frequently advocated tariffs to reduce the U.S. trade deficit and promote domestic manufacturing, saying the country was being "ripped off" by its trading partners, and imposing tariffs was a major plank of his presidential campaign. In early 2011, he stated that because China has manipulated their currency, "it is almost impossible for our companies to compete with Chinese companies." At the time, Alan Tonelson, of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, said the degree of Chinese undervaluation was at least 40%, saying that tariffs were the only way to fix this: "Nothing else has worked, nothing else will work." In 2017, the U.S. had a $336 billion trade deficit with China and a $566 billion trade deficit overall.
meets with Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei, Beijing, September 2017
In supporting tariffs as president, he said that China was costing the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars a year because of unfair trade practices. After imposing tariffs, he denied entering into a trade war, saying the "trade war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S." He said that the U.S. has a trade deficit of $500 billion a year, with intellectual property theft costing an additional $300 billion. "We cannot let this continue," he said. Former White House Counsel, Jim Schultz, said that "through multiple presidential administrations — Clinton, Bush and Obama — the United States has naively looked the other way while China cheated its way to an unfair advantage in the international trade market."
Among the unfair trade practices asserted by the Trump administration is the theft of U.S. intellectual property. James Andrew Lewis, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that IP has been taken through espionage, theft and forced technology transfers due to mandatory joint ventures. Estimated cost to the U.S. from IP theft is between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.
Technology is considered the most important part of the U.S. economy. According to U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer, China maintains a policy of "forced technology transfer," along with practicing "state capitalism," including buying U.S. technology companies and using cybertheft to gain technology. As a result, officials in the Trump administration were, by early 2018, taking steps to prevent Chinese state-controlled companies from buying American technology companies and were trying to stop American companies from handing over their key technologies to China as a cost of entering their market. According to political analyst Josh Rogin: "There was a belief that China would develop a private economy that would prove compatible with the WTO system. Chinese leadership has made a political decision to do the opposite. So now we have to respond."
Lighthizer said that the value of the tariffs imposed was based on U.S. estimates of the actual economic damage caused by alleged theft of intellectual property and foreign-ownership restrictions that require foreign companies to transfer technology. Such forced Joint ventures give Chinese companies illicit access to American technology.
Over half of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the People's Republic of China thought that leakage of intellectual property was an important concern when doing business there. For example, American auto makers must establish a joint venture majority-owned by a Chinese partner, after which the Chinese company receives rights to use the American company's intellectual property in order to produce domestic product based on it.
Former director of the National Security Agency Keith B. Alexander called Chinese industrial espionage "the greatest transfer of wealth in history" and, in August 2017, Robert Lighthizer investigated China's alleged unfair trade practices.
Initiating steel and aluminum tariff actions in March 2018, Trump said "trade wars are good, and easy to win," but as the conflict continued to escalate through August 2019, Trump stated, "I never said China was going to be easy."
Peter Navarro, White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director, explained that the tariffs are "purely defensive measures" to reduce the trade deficit. He says that the cumulative trillions of dollars that Americans transfer overseas as a result of yearly deficits are then used by those countries to buy America's assets, as opposed to investing that money in the U.S. "If we do as we're doing... those trillions of dollars are in the hands of foreigners that they can then use to buy up America."

European Commission allegations

The European Commission filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over these rules in 2018, arguing that foreign companies are forced or induced to transfer IP to their Chinese partner, and establish research and development in China, as "performance requirements" to receive government approval in sectors such as electric vehicles. The EU believes that this violates WTO rules requiring fair treatment of domestic and foreign companies.

China's response and counter-allegations

The Chinese government has denied forced transfer of IP is a mandatory practice, and acknowledged the impact of domestic R&D performed in China. Former U.S. treasury secretary Larry Summers assessed that Chinese leadership in some technological fields was the result of "huge government investment in basic science" and not "theft" of U.S. properties. In March 2019, the National People's Congress endorsed a new foreign investment bill, to take effect in 2020, which explicitly prohibits the forced transfer of IP from foreign companies, and grants stronger protection to foreign intellectual property and trade secrets. China had also planned to lift restrictions on foreign investment in the automotive industry in 2022. AmCham China policy committee chair Lester Ross criticized the bill, saying the text of the bill was "rushed" and "broad", and also criticized a portion of the bill that granted the country power to retaliate against countries that impose restrictions on Chinese companies.
The Chinese government has blamed the American government for starting the conflict and said that U.S. actions were making negotiations difficult. They say the trade war has had a negative effect on the world and that the U.S. government's real goal is to stifle China's growth.

Chronology

2018

In April 2018, China announced that it would eliminate laws that required global automakers and shipbuilders to work through state-owned partners. President of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping reiterated those pledges, affirming a desire to increase imports, lower foreign-ownership limits on manufacturing and expand protection to intellectual property, all central issues in Trump's complaints about their trade imbalance. Trump thanked Xi for his "kind words on tariffs and automobile barriers" and "his enlightenment" on intellectual property and technology transfers. "We will make great progress together!" the president added.
By early July 2018, there were negative and positive results already showing up in the economy as a result of the tariffs, with a number of industries showing employment growth while others were planning on layoffs. Regional commentators noted that consumer products were the most likely to be affected by the tariffs. A timeline of when costs would rise was uncertain as companies had to figure out if they could sustain a tariff hike without passing on the costs to consumers.
video about the effects of the trade war on U.S. soybean production
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, American farmers have been "felt the brunt of" China's retaliatory trade actions. In response, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration's aid relief for the difficulties faced by the farmers came in the form of cash payments, securing additional trade deals and modifying environmental regulations to benefit corn farmers. According to the American Farm Bureau, agricultural exports from the US to China decreased from $24 billion in 2014 to $9.1 billion in 2018, including decreases in sales of pork, soybeans, and wheat. Farm bankruptcies have increased, and agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere & Company cut its profit forecast twice between January and August 2019. An August 2019 USDA report showed that as American wheat exports to China dropped, Canadian wheat exports to China rose from 32% to more than 60%. Farm equipment manufacturers were negatively affected by the reluctance of farmers to invest in new equipment, with sales dropping significantly during the first quarter of 2019. Yet despite the negative effects, polls in July 2019 showed that most farmers continued to support Trump, as 78% of them said they believed the trade war will ultimately benefit U.S. agriculture. The Government Accountability Office announced in February 2020 that it would examine the program, amid reports that aid was being improperly distributed.
According to a study by the National Retail Federation of the United States, a 25% tariff on Chinese furniture alone would cost US consumers an additional $4.6 billion in annual payments.
Analysis conducted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that China imposed uniform tariffs averaging 8% on all its importers in January 2018, before the trade war began. By June 2019, tariffs on American imports had increased to 20.7%, while tariffs on other nations declined to 6.7%. The analysis also found that average American tariffs on Chinese goods increased from 3.1% in 2017 to 24.3% by August 2019.
Economic growth has slowed worldwide amid the trade war. The International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook report released in April 2019 lowered the global economic growth forecast for 2019 from 3.6% expected in 2018 to 3.3%, and said that economic and trade frictions may further curb global economic growth and continue weaken the investment. According to Capital Economics, China's economic growth has slowed as a result of the trade war, though overall the Chinese economy "has held up well", and China's share of global exports has increased. U.S. economic growth has also slowed.
video about the trade war's effects on consumers
Analysis by Goldman Sachs in May 2019 found that the consumer price index for nine categories of tariffed goods had increased dramatically, compared to a declining CPI for all other core goods.
In August 2019, Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro asserted tariffs were not hurting Americans. Politifact rated Navarro's assertion "Pants on Fire."
Surveys of consumer sentiment and small business confidence showed sharp declines in August 2019 on uncertainty caused by the trade war. The closely followed Purchasing Managers' Index for manufacturing from the Institute for Supply Management showed contraction in August, for the first time since January 2016; the ISM quoted several executives expressing anxiety about the continuing trade war, citing shrinking export orders and the challenges of shifting their supply chains out of China. The IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index also showed contraction in August, for the first time since September 2009. The day the ISM report was released, Trump tweeted, "China’s Supply Chain will crumble and businesses, jobs and money will be gone!"
Analysis conducted by Moody's Analytics estimated that through August 2019 300,000 American jobs had either been lost or not created due to the trade war, especially affecting manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and retail.
By September 2019, American manufacturers were reducing their capital investments and delaying hiring due to uncertainty caused by the trade war.
A November 2019 United Nations analysis reported that "the U.S. tariffs on China are economically hurting both countries".
In December 2019, the South China Morning Post reported that, due to the trade war and the Chinese government's crackdown on shadow banking, Chinese manufacturing investments are expanding at the lowest rate since records began.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2020 that the USTR was granting fewer tariff waivers to American firms, down from 35% of requests for the first two tranches of tariffs in 2018 to 3% for the third tranche in 2019.

Overall effects on U.S. economy

The Congressional Budget Office reported their estimates of the U.S. economic impact of tariffs in August 2019. By 2020, tariffs would reduce the level of real U.S. GDP by about 0.3%, reduce real consumption by 0.3%, reduce real private investment by 1.3%, and reduce real household income by $580 Consumer and capital goods become more expensive; 2) Business uncertainty increases, thereby reducing or slowing investment; and 3) Other countries impose retaliatory tariffs, making U.S. exports more expensive and thus reducing them. CBO estimated the U.S. had imposed tariffs on 11% of imports by January 2018. As of July 25, 2019, retaliatory tariffs had been imposed on 7% of all U.S. goods exports. CBO expects the negative consequences will remain but have a smaller impact in 2029, as businesses adjust their supply chains. CBO updated its analysis in January 2020, increasing the forecast reduction in household income in 2020 to $1,277 and the GDP reduction to 0.5%. Consumer prices were also expected to be 0.5% higher.

Stock market

Uncertainty due to the trade war has caused turbulence in the stock market, with investors "rattled" by the conflict.
On December 4, 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged its worst day in nearly a month as it declined nearly 600 points, to which some argue is in part due to the trade war. On December 26, the Dow Jones recorded a rise of 1000 points after, according to Reuters, the publication of a report that documented strong holiday sales, although the major indexes were still down more than 10% through the month of December 2018 amid the trade war.
On August 14, 2019, the Dow dropped 800 points, partly caused by increasing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Nine days later, on August 23, the Dow dropped 623 points on the day that Trump informally ordered American companies to immediately seek alternatives to doing business in China. By the end of 2019, stock markets reached record highs, having risen due to the agreement between the United States and China to sign the first phase of a trade deal.
Tensions rise day by day between the United States and China, leading to talk of a new Cold War. Experts see important historical differences, but believe that the two powers are entering dangerous territory.

Domestic politics

Analysts speculated that the trade war could affect the 2020 United States presidential election, as tariffs have negatively affected farmers, an important constituency for Trump. Xi may also face domestic political pressure.

Other countries

Globally, foreign direct investment has slowed. The trade war has hurt the European economy, particularly Germany, even though trade relations between Germany and China and between Germany and the U.S. remain good. The Canadian economy has seen negative effects as well. Like the U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan, and South Korea were all showing "a weak manufacturing performance" as of 2019. Several Asian governments have instituted stimulus measures to address damage from the trade war, though economists said this may not be effective.
A trade group predicted that demand for semiconductor devices would decline by 12 per cent, as a direct result of the trade war.
Some countries have benefited economically from the trade war, at least in some sectors, due to increasing exports to the United States and China to fill the gaps left by decreasing trade between these two economies. Beneficiaries include Vietnam, Chile, Malaysia, and Argentina. Vietnam is the biggest beneficiary, with technology companies moving manufacturing there. South Korea has also benefited from increased electronics exports, Malaysia from semiconductor exports, Mexico from motor vehicles, and Brazil from soybeans. However, US-ASEAN Business Council CEO Alex Feldman warned that even these countries may not benefit long-term, saying that "It's in everyone's interest to see this spat get resolved and go back to normal trade relations between the US and China." Several Taiwanese companies have been expanding production in Taiwan, including Quanta Computer, Sercomm and Wistron, creating over 21,000 jobs. Nintendo has reportedly moved some Nintendo Switch production from China to Southeast Asia.
The trade war has indirectly caused some companies to go bankrupt. One of them, Taiwanese LCD panel manufacturer Chunghwa Picture Tubes, went bankrupt as a result of an excess supply of panels and a subsequent collapse in prices, which was aided by vulnerability to the trade war, a slowing Taiwanese and global economy and a slowdown in the electronics sector.

Reactions

Chinese domestic reactions

The state-controlled Communist Party newspaper People's Daily has stated that China will be able to withstand the trade war, and that Trump's policies are affecting American consumers.
In September 2019, Lu Xiang, an analyst at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expressed pessimism about the outcome of upcoming talks, called Trump "unpredictable", and said, "We can only try to find sensible clues in his nonsense."
Domestic reporting on the trade war is censored in China. While news outlets are permitted to report on the conflict, their coverage is subject to restrictions. Some internet users have gotten around censorship by instead referring to a "sweater war", which is nearly homophonous with "trade war" in Standard Chinese.
The trade war is a common subject on Chinese social media, with one popular Internet meme referencing Thanos, a villain from Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe who wipes out half of all life in the universe using the Infinity Gauntlet, joking that Trump will similarly wipe out half of China's investors.
Hong Kong economics professor Lawrence J. Lau argues that a major cause of the trade war is the growing battle between China and the U.S. for global economic and technological dominance. He argues, "It is also a reflection of the rise of populism, isolationism, nationalism and protectionism almost everywhere in the world, including in the US."

United States domestic reactions

Congress

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer praised President Trump's higher tariffs against China's alleged taking advantage of the U.S. and said "Democrats, Republicans, Americans of every political ideology, every region in the country should support these actions." Other Democratic senators who supported Trump's actions include Bob Menendez, Sherrod Brown and Ron Wyden Bipartisan support from the House of Representatives for Trump's actions came from Nancy Pelosi and Brad Sherman Kevin Brady and Ted Yoho.
Other senators from both parties have criticized Trump for the trade war, including Charles E. Grassley, Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Elizabeth Warren, and Ron Wyden.
Other Republican senators have given more divided statements. Mitch McConnell said that "nobody wins a trade war" but that there was hope the tactics would "get us into a better position, vis-à-vis China". John Cornyn said that "there's a lot of concern". Joni Ernst said in May 2019 that the "tariffs are hurtful" to farmers, but that they "do want us to find a path forward with China" and said, "We hope that we can get a deal soon".

Industry

Economic analyst Zachary Karabell has argued that the administration's tariff-based approach would not work as it would not "reverse what has already been transferred and will not do much to address the challenge of China today, which is no longer a manufacturing neophyte" and also argued that the assertion that more rigorous intellectual property protections would "level the playing field" was problematic. He recommended instead that the U.S. focus on its relative advantages of economic openness and a culture of independence.
A Foreign Policy article written during the COVID-19 pandemic said that China was weaponizing globalization and advocated for a policy of economic decoupling by the United States from China.

Agricultural

In 2018, following announcements of escalation of tariffs by the U.S. and China, representatives of several agricultural industries expressed their concerns about the adverse effects the trade war might have on their respective industries. Some mayors representing towns with a heavy reliance on the farming sector also expressed their concerns.
In August 2019, Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union — representing about 200,000 family farmers, ranchers and fishers — stated that the trade war was creating problems for American farmers, specifically highlighting the fall in soybean exports from the U.S. to China. In the same month, the American Farm Bureau Federation — representing large agribusiness — said that the announcement of new tariffs "signals more trouble for American agriculture."

Business

In September 2018, a business coalition announced a lobbying campaign called "Tariffs Hurt the Heartland" to protest the proposed tariffs; the tariffs on Chinese steel, aluminum, and certain chemicals contributed to rising fertilizer and agricultural equipment costs in the United States.
In February 2019, a survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China showed that a majority of member U.S. companies supported increasing or maintaining tariffs on Chinese goods, and nearly twice as many respondents compared to the year before wanted the U.S. government to push Beijing harder to create a level playing field. A further 19 percent of its companies said they were adjusting supply chains or seeking to source components and assembly outside of China as a result of tariffs and 28% were delaying or cancelling investment decisions in China.
Over 600 companies and trade associations, including manufacturers, retailers, and tech companies, wrote to Trump in mid-2019 to ask him to remove tariffs and end the trade war, saying that increased tariffs would have "a significant, negative, and long-term impact on American businesses, farmers, families, and the US economy".
On May 20, 2019, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, an industry trade association for footwear, issued an open letter to President Trump, part of which read: "On behalf of our hundreds of millions of footwear consumers and hundreds of thousands of employees, we ask that you immediately stop this action", referring to the trade war.
Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of over 160 business organizations, wrote a letter to Trump in August 2019 requesting that he postpone all tariff rate increases on Chinese goods, citing concerns about cost increases for U.S. manufacturers and farmers. The coalition includes the National Retail Federation, the Consumer Technology Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the Toy Association and American Petroleum Institute, among others.
In September 2019, Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said that the trade war had "gone on far too long" and had harmful effects on American businesses and consumers. He urged the Trump administration to end the trade war and find an agreement to remove all the tariffs.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing trade groups joined the "Tariffs Hurt the Heartland" campaign against the trade war, with National Marine Manufacturers Association vice president Nicole Vasilaros saying "This is hurting American manufacturers."
The CEOs of American steelmakers Nucor Corp, United States Steel Corp, ArcelorMittal SA and Commercial Metals Co have all supported Trump's steel tariffs against China as has the United Steelworkers Union.
James Hoffa Jr., president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has been a proponent of U.S. tariffs against China as has Richard Trumpka, president of AFL-CIO. Democratic representative Tim Ryan, who has a lifetime 98 percent rating from the AFL-CIO, has also supported the Trump tariffs saying, "What China has been doing is bullshit. They’re cheating, they’re subsidizing their product.”
Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, is a proponent of the increased U.S. tariffs. After US-China trade talks ended in July 2019 with no resolution in sight, Paul said the talks were "failing American workers," adding, "a regurgitated pledge to buy more ag products and more talks in September? Trump would have ripped any Democrat for that outcome..."
Due to the trade war, Chinese investment needed by American aircraft manufacturer ICON Aircraft was cut in August 2019. This necessitated laying off 40% of the company workforce and cutting ICON A5 aircraft production to fewer than five aircraft per month, from a target of 20 aircraft per month.

Others

In an April 2018 article in Forbes, Harry G. Broadman, a former U.S. trade negotiator, said that while he agreed with the Trump administration's basic position that the Chinese did not abide by fair, transparent and market-based rules for global trade, he disagreed with its means of unilaterally employing tariffs and said that the administration should instead pursue a coalition-based approach.
The day Trump announced his steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from all nations, including China, the Wall Street Journal editorial board denounced the executive order as "the biggest policy blunder of his Presidency."
James Andrew Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that what the United States needed from China was its a commitment to observes the rules and norms of international trade and to extend reciprocal treatment to U.S. companies in China.
Economists at financial firm Morgan Stanley expressed uncertainty about how the trade war would end, but warned in June 2019 that it could lead to a recession.
The former Vice President Joe Biden said: "While Trump is pursuing a damaging and erratic trade war, without any real strategy, China is positioning itself to lead the world in renewable energy."
An August 2019 Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll found that 67% of registered voters wanted the U.S. to confront Beijing over its trade policies despite the fact that 74% said American consumers were shouldering most of the burden of tariffs. Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, said the poll showed strong support amongst the American public for Trump's trade policies against China, saying, “They realize that the tariffs may have negative impacts on jobs and prices, but they believe the fight here is the right one.”
Economist Panos Mourdoukoutas states that China's elites were fighting the trade war under the wrong assumption that China had reached "power parity" with the U.S. and that although an economic divorce between the two countries would have some consequences for the US, it would on the other hand be devastating for China.
Tariffs on medical supplies have become politically complicated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wall Street Journal, citing Trade Data Monitor to show that China is the leading source of many key medical supplies, raised concerns that US tariffs on imports from China threaten imports of medical supplies into the United States.

International

On June 1, 2018, after similar action by the United States, the European Union launched WTO legal complaints against China which accused it of employing trade practices that discriminated against foreign firms and undermined the intellectual property rights of EU companies. The European commissioner for trade Cecilia Malmström said "We cannot let any country force our companies to surrender this hard-earned knowledge at its border. This is against international rules that we have all agreed upon in the WTO." American, European and Japanese officials have discussed joint strategy and taken actions against unfair competition by China.
A September 2018 article by Brahma Chellaney said that America's trade war with China should not obscure a broader pushback against China's mercantilist trade, investment, and lending practices.
At the 2018 G20 summit, the trade war was on the agenda for discussion.
A March 2019 Reuters article said that the European Union shared many of the Trump administration's same complaints with regards to China’s technology transfer policies and market access constraints and also reported that European diplomats and officials acknowledged support for Trump’s goals, even if they disagreed with his tactics.
At the 45th G7 summit, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "We don't like tariffs on the whole." An article in ABC said that U.S. allies warned Trump during the summit about his trade war with China, but that Trump said he was not facing any pressure from his allies over the trade war. European Council President Donald Tusk said the trade war risked causing a global recession.
The Chilean vice minister for trade, Rodrigo Yanez, told CNBC that "It's very important for Chile that a trade deal between the U.S. and China is signed soon".
In the wake of the 2020 Galwan Valley skirmish, Indian commentators made references to the US-China trade war as part of their overall analysis of the effect that the skirmish would have on the future relations between India and China.