Donald Trump’s tariff war with China is backfiring—with Beijing moving on to cut deals with the rest of the world instead.
A New York Times analysis found that China is offsetting its decline in exports to the U.S. with “breathtaking speed,” by dramatically increasing exports to dozens of other nations.
Between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025—when Trump and Beijing imposed reciprocal tariffs—China’s trade with the U.S. fell by roughly $38 billion.
However, over the same period, Chinese exports to Hong Kong increased by $12 billion, Vietnam by $11 billion, Thailand by $5 billion, and the European Union by $15 billion, among others.
The Times notes that this pivot was not solely a reaction to Trump’s tariffs. China has been seeking trade relationships beyond the U.S. for years, in pursuit of greater global economic dominance.
Beijing is also rapidly expanding exports of electric vehicles, batteries, steel equipment, and solar panels across Africa, South America, and Asia.
China, which produces over 90 percent of the world’s processed rare earths used in everything from smartphones to military equipment, is rapidly increasing trade in Africa, particularly.
Two years ago, China sold only about 100 electric cars to Nigeria, but it has already sold thousands this year, reported the Times. The East Asian country has also already sold nearly four times the amount of solar panels to Algeria than it did throughout the whole of last year.
“They should not be surprised that China is able to find markets outside of the advanced economies,” Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told the newspaper.
Trump traveled to South Korea last month for high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at easing rising trade tensions. While the 79-year-old rated the talks as a 12 on a “scale from zero to 10,” he returned to the U.S. with little but concessions in China’s favor.
In exchange for Trump lowering his tariffs from 57 percent to approximately 47 percent, Beijing agreed to resume purchasing soybeans, temporarily ease access to rare earth materials for one year, and made an unspecified commitment to tackle the flow of fentanyl.
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