Growing Calls for U.S. to Ease Trade Tensions with China

Trade tensions between the U.S. and the Chinese mainland have edged toward de-escalation. In April, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed exceptionally high tariffs on imports from the Chinese mainland, triggering retaliatory duties. Since then, Beijing and Washington suspended most levies after reaching a consensus in Geneva and London—to clear the way for fresh trade talks.

Economist Adam S. Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, has been one of the loudest critics of tariffs. In Congressional testimony, Posen called tariffs a “bad form of tax” that bring “costs, chaos, [and] corruption,” disrupting supply chains and feeding uncertainty for businesses and consumers. In an April article for Foreign Affairs, he challenged the idea of U.S. “escalation dominance,” warning that cutting off trade without reliable alternatives is “wildly reckless” given China’s leverage as a surplus economy.

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly added his voice in favor of cooperation, arguing that U.S.–China collaboration could “make the world safer and more affluent—helping every decent person on earth.”

Energy experts have also weighed in. Following U.S. limits on ethane exports to the Chinese mainland, domestic producers faced excess inventories and falling prices, while China simply shifted to alternative petrochemical feedstocks. Philip Luck, director of the Economics Program at CSIS, described those export controls as “poor analysis” and “arbitrary implementation,” noting they inflict “measurable harm on U.S. energy companies” without delivering real security benefits.

Signs of a thaw appeared this week when Enterprise Products Partners, a U.S.-based ethane trader, announced that licensing restrictions had been lifted—allowing ethane shipments to resume. For entrepreneurs, investors, and policy‐minded readers, this latest move may signal the start of a broader recalibration in U.S.–China economic relations.

With talks ongoing and no formal trade agreement yet in place, the push to ease tariffs is gaining ground. From Capitol Hill to Wall Street, experts agree: sustained engagement, rather than punitive barriers, may offer the most stable path forward in one of the world’s most critical economic partnerships.

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U.S. faces growing calls to ease trade tensions with China

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