{"id":223178,"date":"2025-04-17T11:45:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=223178"},"modified":"2026-07-09T18:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:22:23","slug":"views-of-trade-between-china-and-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2025\/04\/17\/views-of-trade-between-china-and-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"3. Views of trade between China and the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Americans tend to believe the U.S.-China trade relationship benefits China more than the U.S.: 46% hold this view, while a quarter say both countries benefit equally and 10% say the U.S. benefits more. Nonetheless, Americans are skeptical that increased tariffs on Chinese imports will have a positive effect on the country or on their own lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 (The survey was conducted March 24-30, 2025, after President Donald Trump implemented tariffs on China in February<\/a> and again in early March<\/a>, but before further tariffs were imposed in April<\/a>. China responded with tariffs on the U.S. both before<\/a> and after the survey was fielded<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who benefits most from the U.S.-China trade relationship?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether one country benefits more from U.S.-China trade, the largest share of Americans (46%) say China does, largely unchanged since we last asked the question in 2023<\/a>. The U.S.-China trade relationship is seen as more unbalanced than the U.S.-Canada or U.S.-Mexico trade relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bar<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For more on U.S. assessments of trade with the country\u2019s top trade partners, read \u201c<\/em>How Americans view trade between the U.S. and China, Canada and Mexico<\/em><\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views by party<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Republicans and Democrats see different winners in the U.S.-China trade relationship. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, a 60% majority say China benefits more from U.S.-China trade. Conservative Republicans are especially likely to hold this view (69%). In comparison, Democrats and Democratic leaners are equally divided between saying China benefits more and saying the two countries benefit equally (34% take each stance).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views by age<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Older Americans are more likely than younger adults to see China as the main beneficiary of trade between the U.S. and China. A majority of those ages 65 and older (56%) say China benefits more than the U.S., compared with 27% of those ages 18 to 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do Americans feel about increased tariffs on China?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As of mid-April, Trump has implemented increasingly high tariffs<\/a> on imports from China \u2013 adding to the tariffs put in place during his first administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bar<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many more Americans think increased tariffs on China will be bad for the U.S. \u2013 and for them personally<\/em> \u2013 than say these tariffs will be good.<\/strong> Around a quarter say either that increased tariffs will have no effect on the U.S. or that they are unsure about tariffs\u2019 national effects. Over a third say the same about how tariffs will affect them personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we asked similar questions in 2021<\/a>, people were more likely to say tariffs would have a negative impact on the country than on themselves personally. Now, relatively equal shares anticipate a negative impact on both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans who think the U.S. benefits more than China does from U.S.-China trade are far more likely to see the tariffs as bad than good for the country (68% vs. 18%). The same is true for those who think both countries benefit equally from U.S.-China trade \u2013 they tend to say tariffs will affect the U.S. negatively (71%) rather than positively (11%). Those who say China benefits more from U.S.-China trade are about equally likely to say tariffs on China will be bad for the U.S. as to say they will be good (41% vs. 37%).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more views of increasing tariffs on China, read \u201c<\/em>Americans Give Early Trump Foreign Policy Actions Mixed or Negative Reviews<\/em><\/a>.\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Americans tend to say U.S.-China trade benefits China more, though they\u2019re skeptical that increased tariffs on China will be good for themselves or the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[119,446,125,250,26],"tags":[],"bylines":[738,633,954],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[506,515],"research-teams":[525],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-223178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china-global-image","category-global-balance-power","category-global-economy-trade","category-global-trade","category-international-affairs","bylines-christine-huang","bylines-laura-clancy","bylines-laura-silver","formats-report","regions-countries-china","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-global"],"label":false,"post_parent":223093,"word_count":556,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2025\/04\/17\/views-of-trade-between-china-and-the-us\/","art_direction":{"A2":{"id":222954,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/04\/PG_25.04.17_USViewsOfChina_featured@2x.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/04\/PG_25.04.17_USViewsOfChina_featured@2x.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"A shipping crate from China awaits inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at a Los Angeles freight facility in 2022. 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