Before President Trump’s planned visit to China in May, the United States House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing on Wednesday (April 22) regarding the 2026 trade policy agenda of the Trump administration. The hearing focused not only on how to eliminate trade barriers that harm American producers and workers, but also on the highly contentious issue of U.S.-China trade.
The core of this hearing was to examine the effectiveness of the “America First” trade policy and to focus on the economic impact of tariffs, the implementation of new trade agreements, and issues related to supply chain security.
Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer both attended the meeting.
Smith first stated, “Since April 2025, the U.S. economy has not collapsed as predicted by experts and naysayers. On the contrary, the ‘America First’ trade agenda of the Trump administration is opening up new markets for American workers, manufacturers, and farmers, not only eliminating tariffs long imposed on American products but also securing over $1 trillion in investment commitments in the U.S.”
He cited some achievements: the EU has reduced tariffs on American cars from 10% to 0%; Cambodia has eliminated all tariffs on products imported from the U.S. (including reducing machinery and equipment tariffs from 15% to 0%); Taiwan will eliminate tariffs on most vehicles; Malaysia has granted preferential tariffs on a variety of products from the U.S., such as chemicals, electrical equipment, and metals.
In addition, he also mentioned that countries like Australia, Cambodia, Japan, the UK, Argentina, and India have significantly lowered tariffs on American soybeans, beef, pork, dairy products, alcoholic beverages, and other agricultural products, and announced substantial purchases of American dairy products and opening up imports of most meats (beef, pork, chicken).
Smith pointed out that these achievements are expected to help decrease the U.S. agricultural trade deficit by 43%.
He further stated, “U.S. exports reached a record $3.4 trillion last year, with the trade deficit with China decreasing by 32%, reaching the lowest level since 2004. Moreover, the proportion of Chinese goods imported by the U.S. has dropped significantly from 13.4% to 9.3% in just one year.”
At the hearing, Greer addressed questions from lawmakers regarding U.S. trade and economic issues globally, with lawmakers suggesting ways to improve U.S. trade and advocating for a better market environment for American citizens.
Moreover, Greer shared his views on trade issues with China, stating, “We hope that the Chinese Communist Party will make comprehensive commitments in all agricultural fields, and we also hope that concrete results can be achieved during President Trump’s visit in May. At the same time, we are working to establish a mechanism with China to facilitate the expansion of trade in non-sensitive products, including agricultural products.”
Greer emphasized that President Trump is well aware of the various challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party, whether in the economic or national security aspects. “When we head to China next month, we will develop a proactive agenda to discuss the areas where we should engage in trade, the areas where we should sell to them, and the areas where we can purchase from them. These will all be non-sensitive goods, and this will be the focus of our dialogue.”
In addition to Greer’s hopes for expanding Chinese purchases of agricultural products and non-sensitive goods during President Trump’s visit next month, aerospace giant Boeing also expressed similar aspirations on the same day.
Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing, mentioned in an interview with Reuters that the company is looking to the Trump administration to help secure a long-awaited large order from China.
He stated that Boeing had reached a “good solution” with Chinese airlines to address concerns about not being able to obtain critical spare parts. “However, without the support of the U.S. government, I believe the company will not receive large orders from China in the near future.”
President Trump previously threatened to cut off the supply of key parts (including spare engine parts) to China if they did not address trade issues.
According to industry insiders speaking to Reuters, Boeing and China have engaged in long-term negotiations for a deal involving 500 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and dozens of wide-body planes. If successfully concluded, this would be the first major order for Boeing from China since 2017.
President Trump is expected to visit Beijing on May 14th and 15th for talks with Xi Jinping.