WASHINGTON — In his first major address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday (March 4), U.S. President Donald Trump focused primarily on domestic issues and listed the achievements of his six-week-old second term. But, unsurprisingly, he also took some aim at China.
“Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada,” Trump said. “Have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It’s very unfair.”
“India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%. China’s average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them,” he said. “And South Korea’s average tariff is four times higher. Think of that, four times higher. And we give so much help militarily and in so many other ways to South Korea.”
“But that’s what happens,” he said. “This is happening by friend and foe. This system is not fair to the United States and never was.”
Trump announced that the U.S. will impose reciprocal tariffs on all countries, starting April 2, drawing applause from Republicans in the audience, a shift from the party’s earlier support for free trade.
The Trump administration has already increased tariffs on Chinese goods by 10% twice since taking office six weeks ago, while China has responded with tariffs of 10% to 15% on U.S. agricultural products.
Shaomin Li, a professor of international business at the University of Maryland, said that Trump’s tariffs policy signals that he wants to bring manufacturing and real economic activity back to America.
However, the American public is less optimistic about the potential impact of tariffs.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from March 3 to 4 showed that 54% of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while 51% disapprove of his policies on international trade.
Trump also mentioned plans to set up a White House office of shipbuilding in a bid to strengthen America’s defense industry and revitalize the U.S. commercial and military shipbuilding industry.
“We used to make so many ships,” Trump said. “We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact.”
Considering China’s current dominance in the global shipping industry, “this is a veiled criticism of Beijing,” Dean Chen, a political science professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey, told Voice of America (VOA).
He said the U.S. shipping industry has been hard hit by Chinese competition, with Chinese ships, containers, and cranes now found all over the world, docking at U.S. ports, while China also has the capacity to build ships for military use.
Trump will likely issue an executive order directing more funding and support for the domestic shipbuilding industry to address these challenges, Chen said.
According to data from the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR), China accounted for around 5% of total global shipbuilding tonnage in 1999, and that number could exceed 50% by 2023.
According to the USTR, China’s shipping industry activity “restricts U.S. commerce by undercutting business opportunities for and investments in the U.S. maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors; restricting competition and choice; creating economic security risks from dependence and vulnerabilities in sectors critical to the functioning of the U.S. economy; and undermining supply chain resilience.”
Trump also repeated his vow to reclaim the Panama Canal from China during his joint address to Congress.
“To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” he told Congress.
Trump also referenced plans by Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings to sell a majority stake in a business that controls ports in Panama to a consortium led by U.S. financial giant BlackRock for nearly $23 billion.
“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals,” he said.
“We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
Trump also mentioned companies such as chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), SoftBank, Apple and OpenAI will build factories in the United States, not in China.
“Taiwan Semiconductor, the biggest in the world’s most powerful in the world, has a tremendous amount — 97% of the market — announced a $165 billion investment to build the most powerful chips on Earth right here in the U.S.A.,” Trump said. “And we’re not giving them any money.”
Chen described Trump as “a shrewd, transactional realist who often links business deals with national security,” citing his attempts to reach a minerals agreement with Ukraine.
“How TSMC’s massive investment plan will affect U.S. policy towards Taiwan in the future remains to be seen,” Chen said.
Trump had earlier referred to a potential Chinese invasion of democratic Taiwan as “catastrophic,” without elaborating on what actions his administration would take if it happened.
He also declined to answer at his first cabinet meeting last week, when asked if his administration would send troops to defend Taiwan in the event of military action from Beijing.
Since the current administration is focused on “making America great again,” its foreign policy will naturally center on U.S. interests, said Dennis Weng, an associate professor of political science at Sam Houston State University in Texas.
“The U.S. has a very tough foreign policy, and it’s making other countries understand what American interests are,” Weng told VOA.
Domestic issues
Trump’s one hour, 40-minute speech was the longest by a U.S. president since 1964, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Much of it focused on domestic issues, including an investigation led by Elon Musk into government efficiency, cuts to federal spending and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as the strengthening of border security and mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Trump also talked about the economy, saying that a smaller government that was less wasteful would ultimately lower inflation rates and enable a balanced budget.
“As a president with a campaign slogan of ‘America First’ and some new isolationist tendencies, it is not surprising that Trump’s speech focused mainly on domestic policy issues,” Chen said.
And Trump has plenty of support for the measures he is implementing at the start of his term, Weng said. “Since the Republicans took both the House and Senate, Trump feels that he can now act very efficiently without being hamstrung.”
Currently, the GOP holds a slim majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Ukraine and the Middle East
Naturally, the war in Ukraine was unavoidable, as the major news story of the past week.
“I’m also working tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine,” Trump said. “Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict, with no end in sight.”
Trump had been hoping to announce a new rare earth minerals agreement with Ukraine during the speech. However, his clash with Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week disrupted that plan.
Instead, Trump returned to his frustration over how much money the U.S. has spent on the conflict.
But he responded positively to a post to X from Zelenskyy, which said “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
Trump said he had received a letter from Zelenskyy with the same wording.
“I appreciate him sending that letter,” he said, without saying whether he would try to talk to Zelenskyy again.
“Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussion with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace,” Trump said.
On the Middle East, Trump said “we are bringing hostages back from Gaza.”
“In my first term, we achieved one of the most groundbreaking peace agreements in generations: the Abraham Accords,” he said. “And now we’re going to build on that foundation, to create a more peaceful and prosperous future for the entire region.”
The Abraham Accords were U.S.-brokered peace treaties or normalization agreements signed in 2020 between Israel and several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.
Protests from Democrats
President Trump’s speech was constantly interrupted by applause and cheers from Republicans, but it also faced resistance from Democrats.
Democratic Congressman Al Green from Texas was removed from the chamber just four minutes into the opening for protesting, while other Democrats quietly left or held up signs reading “Lies.”
Democratic women wore pink to draw attention to what they believe are the negative impacts of the Trump administration on women and families, while others held signs criticizing Elon Musk for significantly cutting federal agencies by canceling government contracts and firing thousands of federal employees.
Some Democrats wore yellow and blue ties to show support for Ukraine.
Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin from Michigan made a rebuttal of Trump’s speech on behalf of the Democrats, saying Trump’s economic plan wouldn’t help Americans, and raised concerns over Musk’s efficiency drive, citing a lack of oversight.
“We need a more efficient government. You want to cut waste, I’ll help you do it. But change doesn’t need to be chaotic or make us less safe,” Slotkin said.
“The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer — only to re-hire them two days later? No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired,” she said.
“While we’re on the subject of Elon Musk, is there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts?” Slotkin said.
She added: “No oversight. No protections against cyber-attack. No guardrails on what they do with your private data.”
Slotkin said that while everyone wants to end the war in Ukraine, Trump’s flattery of a dictator like Putin while kicking an ally like Canada was unacceptable.
“Donald Trump’s actions suggest that, in his heart, he doesn’t believe we are an exceptional nation,” she said. “He clearly doesn’t think we should lead the world.”
“And I would rather have American leadership over Chinese or Russian leadership any day of the week.”
To read the original story in Chinese, click here.
