Donald Trump’s Tariffs Put China First

“From this moment on, it’s going to be America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families …. America will start winning again, winning like never before,” United States President Donald Trump said in his 2017 inaugural address.

Since then, President Trump has used tariffs liberally, attempting to create a more favorable trade environment for the U.S. Instead of bending enemies and partners to America’s will, however, the tariffs have restructured global trade without putting America first. China has been the big winner.

Unaffected

In April, trade wars between the U.S. and China intensified. President Trump announced he would increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 125 percent, on top of the 20 percent already in place due to China’s involvement in the fentanyl crisis. China responded with tariffs of its own.

In the following months, the U.S. and China went back and forth, raising and lowering tariffs and having “talks.”

On October 29, the two countries agreed to end the trade war, but the details were vague. Like previous deals with China, it is unclear what it was actually persuaded to do.

Back in April, President Trump said:

The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. Always have. I used it very well in the first administration, … but now we’re taking it to a whole new level.

Yet the tariffs did little to bend China to America’s will; they did little in general. For tariffs to succeed as a negotiation tool, they must hurt the targeted nation.

In November, China’s trade surplus for the year exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in history, and it took only 11 months. This was accomplished while America was wielding its “great power to negotiate.”

Tariffs have not only been largely ineffective against China, but have also caused many other countries to rethink their economic ties with America.

President Trump’s threats, tariffs and unpredictability have alienated trade partners and prompted them to reduce dependence on the U.S. Major powers, including China, India and Europe, are establishing new trade networks independent of the U.S.

For much of America’s history, other major powers have relied on trade with the U.S. Thirty years ago, a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods would have been crippling. The president seems to believe this is still the case. But while America was throwing around its economic weight, China made $1 trillion on trade.

China is bolstering trade with Europe, Latin America and Africa—and leaving America out. This will lead to dark economic days for the U.S., as prophesied in your Bible.

Europe

From May 2024 to May 2025, Chinese exports to the European Union increased by 12 percent, while exports to the U.S. fell by 34.5 percent. China’s trade with Europe and other nations more than compensated for its lack of trade with the U.S.

In May 2025, over 500 government and business leaders from China and Europe held a conference to find ways to increase trade between the two blocs. America’s sporadic tariffs have caused China and Europe to seek more stable trade relations elsewhere. The Trumpet wrote:

In April, China called on European nations to form a united front in response to America’s tariff policies. In March, Chinese officials expressed interest in collaborating with Portugal to enhance ties between China and Europe. In February, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the importance of expanding trade relations with China.

In 24 years, trade between China and Europe has expanded from $108 billion to $786 billion—an increase of over 700 percent. And in October 2025, China became Germany’s top trade partner.

Instead of the U.S. being at the epicenter, global trade is revolving around an Asian commercial superstructure.

China has also focused on the developing world. Twenty-five years ago, over 80 percent of nations traded more with the U.S. than with China. Today, roughly 70 percent of nations trade more with China than the U.S. If forced to choose a side in an all-out trade war, these countries would likely side with the country that has a bigger impact on their economy: China.

Global South

China’s largest trade region, the Global South, imports 50 percent more goods from China than the U.S. and Western Europe combined. This region includes South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Chinese exports to this region have doubled in the past 10 years, reaching $1.6 trillion in 2024. China has also doubled imports from the Global South, importing more than $1 trillion in goods.

As trade increases, so does dependence. Among China’s top 20 trading partners in the Global South, 19 percent of their total gross domestic product comes from trade with China. They are economically dependent on China; losing a fifth of their economy would be catastrophic. This gives China a high level of control, exactly as it intended.

In Latin America, China’s investments have risen sharply in recent years.

In 2024, China financed a deepwater megaport in Peru called Chancay. This port cut shipping time from China to South America in half and is called “the gateway from South America to Asia.” According to Reuters, this cost China $1.3 billion, its biggest investment in Latin America yet.

In June 2024, the Trumpet wrote:

Such a gateway means larger quantities of Latin American perishables will feed the world’s largest food-importing nation. And flowing in the other direction, Latin America will buy significantly greater volumes of Chinese manufactured goods. Overall bilateral China-Latin America trade is expected to swell to unprecedented volumes.

In addition, China is planning a high-speed railway that will connect this deepwater port in Peru to Brazil’s Atlantic coast, which could be completed in a few years, according to Reuters. This would almost act as a second Panama Canal for shipping goods from Brazil and Peru straight to Asia without any extra stops.

China’s investments in poorer countries are a logical move. Why deal with America’s unpredictable tariffs and “America first” trade policies when you can simply trade with its neighbors?

Mart of Nations

China is building a global trade structure that could exclude America without crippling consequences, a scenario prophesied in your Bible. Isaiah 23:3 describes the formation of a giant trade bloc called the “mart of nations.” Mart means “profit from trade” or “merchandise” according to Strong’s Concordance. This is referring to a multinational trade alliance.

In his free booklet Isaiah’s End-Time Vision, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry shows that Chittim refers to China, and Tyre refers to a coming European superpower. This implies that Europe and China are the driving forces of this trade bloc.

Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27 reveal that Israel and Judah (the end-time nations of Israel, Britain and the United States) are excluded from this trade bloc. (Read Herbert W. Armstrong’s The United States and Britain in Prophecy for proof on the identity of these nations.)

Mr. Flurry proves these prophecies refer to an alliance that will economically besiege America, Britain and Israel.

The more Europe and China exclude America from trade, the closer we are to the fulfillment of these prophecies. Read our Trends article to learn more.