Trump Trade War
Fewer Americans are viewing China as an enemy, according to a survey by Pew Research Center, a sentiment that runs counter to the tariff war instigated by Donald Trump Trade War.
Pew Research found the share of Americans with an unfavorable opinion of China saw a “significant year-over-year decline” for the first time in five years. It reached 77% in 2025, a decrease of 4 percentage points from 2024, as part of what the pollster called a broader softening of attitudes toward the country.
A third of respondents in the poll labeled China an enemy of the US, versus 42% last year. When asked which country poses the greatest threat to the US, 42% of Americans name China more often than any other nation, down 8 percentage points since the question was last posed in 2023.
“Americans hold largely negative views of China,” the Pew researchers wrote in the report published Thursday. “Still, attitudes toward China have warmed somewhat.”
The findings are surprising given a hardening bipartisan consensus in Washington in favor of tougher measures against a country that Trump accuses of unfair trade practices that hollowed out American industry.
The tit-for-tat standoff now pitting the US against China has resulted in a stalemate and threatens to wipe out most trade between the world’s largest economies. Chinese officials have said they won’t sit down with the Trump administration for talks unless it treats Beijing with respect.
Americans tend to believe the trade relationship between the two countries benefits China more, with 46% holding this view. But they are skeptical that increased tariffs on Chinese imports will have a positive effect on the US or on their own lives, the report found.
The survey of more than 3,600 US adults, which was conducted during the last week in March, also found that more than three-quarters of respondents have little or no confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.