China’s long game on Trump’s tariffs

About this episode

The episode discusses China's strategic responses to Trump's tariffs and trade wars.

As Xi Jinping prepares to host Donald Trump for a delayed summit in Beijing on May 14-15, a lot has changed since the US president's last visit to China in November 2017. Trump's first trade war with China began in earnest the following year, ushering in a new era of trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. While Trump's second trade war raged in 2025, China reported a record trade surplus of US$1.2 trillion. Yes, direct trade with the US fell sharply, but China shifted its focus elsewhere, doubling down on an existing "great reallocation". In this episode, we speak to economist Jiao Wang at the University of Sussex, about how decisions China took over the past two decades meant it was able to protect itself from the worst of Trump's tariff wars. This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and the executive producer was Gemma Ware. Mixing by Eleanor Brezzi and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode and sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Supreme Court’s tariff decision still leaves a ‘mess’…

People in this episode

Host: Mend Mariwany

Guest: Jiao Wang

Topics covered

• trade tensions
• China
• tariffs
• economics
• US-China relations
• global trade

Keywords

• China
• Trump
• tariffs
• trade surplus
• economy
• Jiao Wang
• US-China relations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Sussex, The Conversation

More episodes of The Conversation Weekly

• How the US finally fell in love with soccer · June 11, 2026 · 26 min
• Two scientists on their race to make a new Ebola vaccine · June 4, 2026 · 22 min
• The salt caverns used to stockpile oil · May 28, 2026 · 24 min
• Argentina’s inflation ‘miracle’ is more of a mirage · May 21, 2026 · 25 min
• The conspiracy theorists who feel vindicated by the Epstein files · May 14, 2026 · 29 min
• Trump v Leo: the war of words over a just war · April 30, 2026 · 26 min