Trade tensions between U.S. and China simmer ahead of Trump-Xi summit

China’s President Xi Jinping is headed to Washington this week to hold a summit with President Donald Trump. It’s the first time Xi has visited the U.S. since 2023, during the Biden administration.

Safety concerns around artificial intelligence are expected to be a big topic of discussion, but there is still plenty of tension between the two countries over trade.

It wasn’t too long ago that tariffs on Chinese goods were skyrocketing. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods reached 145% at their peak back in the spring of 2025, according to Meagan Schoenberger, senior economist at KPMG.

She said China was hitting back, too.

“Reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods reached 125%,” Schoenberger said.

But in the time since, tariffs have come down.

Nowadays, on average, “most of the things you’re buying in the store that are Chinese-made will have about a 20-to-30% tariff, depending on the type of product,” said Ed Gresser, director of trade and global markets at the Progressive Policy Institute.

That’s still higher than tariffs were during the Biden administration, Gresser said, but it is a sign that the trade war is on hold.

“It’s not like issues are settled. It’s more like … both sides have been bloodied a bit, and they’re feeling it in their best interest to not continue that for a while,” he said.

Imports from China to the U.S. have been picking up this year.

Schoenberger at KPMG said that’s been fueled by demand for computers, data storage devices, and other components needed to build out AI infrastructure.

“It is the main driver of why we see a larger trade deficit in the most recent numbers. And a lot of these products, importantly, are exempted from tariffs,” she said.

But exports to China have not been very strong. Earlier this year, China said it would buy about 25 million metric tons of American soybeans.

But as of now, China has purchased approximately half of that, said Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor at Total Farm Marketing.

The Trump administration has also claimed China will purchase about $17 billion of cotton, sorghum, corn, and other ag products.

Blohm said that would be a huge relief for American farmers.

“When you have over-six-dollar diesel, the farmers are still not making money. Because they’re getting ready to harvest, and some of those combines take 300 to 400 gallons of diesel,” she said.

But so far, Blohm said, China hasn’t really shown up.