By Paul Boardman
2026 kicked off with a few perfect examples of how successful Trump’s China policies have been — and how much better they could be.
First, newly released data showed that China’s trade surplus with the U.S. was down 22% year over year and that America’s global trade deficit was at its lowest point since 2009.
This means the tariffs are working. Imports are down, new trade deals are opening up foreign markets, and companies are investing trillions of dollars to make their products in America. Every day those tariffs remain in effect, we grow less dependent on our biggest geopolitical adversary and closer to restoring our domestic industrial base.
China, however, has plenty of other customers. Despite the decline in U.S.-bound exports, the People’s Republic still reported a record-shattering global trade surplus of $1.19 trillion.
Here’s the thing, though: The countries that accept this redirected flood of goods will destroy their domestic manufacturing sectors and reduce themselves to economic vassals of China.
China knows it. Which is why it is coming to the negotiating table with President Trump.
The most recent example of President Trump’s China dealmaking came days ago, when Chinese company ByteDance finally signed a long-delayed deal transferring ownership of its popular TikTok app to what President Trump described as “a group of Great American Patriots and Investors.” This represents a positive step toward strengthening American cybersecurity and limiting Chinese soft power.
The president knows that if the U.S. wants to avoid being overtaken by China, then decreasing our overall trade deficit with the People’s Republic is necessary but not sufficient. We’ll also need to fight Chinese influence operations while maintaining control over key technologies, and that’s exactly what this TikTok acquisition accomplished.
Taiwan Update: Historic Trade Deal Strengthens Ties, Offers Security Benefits, but Faces a Hurdle
The administration scored another unsung victory on this front last year when the Justice Department allowed telecom firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise to acquire Juniper Networks after the intelligence community pointed out the deal’s national security implications (and antitrust experts pointed out that the challenge should never have come in the first place). Together, the two companies are better positioned to compete with Chinese telecom champion Huawei in the global market, thereby reducing our allies’ vulnerability to Chinese cyberespionage.
Trump has also convinced the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to invest another $100 billion to build three new fabs in Arizona. That way, even if China does conquer Taiwan, the U.S. won’t be plunged back into the pre-digital age.
Other decisions, however, have been less conducive to America’s national security. The administration’s most notable failure is its refusal to stop Nvidia from selling advanced AI chips to China.
If China wins the AI race, it will dominate the rest of the 21st century both economically and militarily. And we will have sold them the rope they used to hang us.
The Trump administration has forced Nvidia to fork over a share of the profits from its sales to China, but no amount of short-term gain can justify the suicidal policy of continuing to export these chips to our greatest rival.
Congress seems to agree, since on January 21, the House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a bill that would subject AI chip exports to congressional oversight. Trump should spare them the trouble of passing it and ban the chip sales himself.
He should also go a step further and cut off the flow of human capital by revoking the student visas of all 280,000 Chinese students studying at American universities. Even if they’re not spying on us (which some of them definitely are), they generally take their expertise back to the People’s Republic to strengthen its economy and military.
The arguments for not sending them home are incredibly weak. A few universities might close? OK, great! As Nixon once said, “The professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.” This administration seems perfectly willing to wage war on woke universities in other contexts. Why draw the line at depriving them of Chinese students?
The second Trump administration has done a better job of combating China than any in modern history — and it’s just getting started.
We are being respected again — not just by China but globally. And that’s great news all around.
Paul Boardman is Chair of the Decouple China PAC.
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