Trump’s tariffs hit China where it hurts — more must follow

Donald Trump’s first term reshaped American politics. Against all odds, he upended the establishment’s consensus on trade, immigration, and foreign policy. He redefined the Republican Party’s platform with an “America First” agenda and proved that conservative populism is not only viable but dominant.

But resistance to his presidency was fierce. From day one, entrenched Washington elites and career bureaucrats worked to undermine him. Even within the Republican Party, many clung to outdated, donor-driven priorities instead of embracing the agenda voters demanded.

The United States must fully decouple from China, starting with a ban on Chinese ownership of American land and critical industries.

As a result, key elements of the MAGA movement — securing the border, dismantling the administrative state, and reducing dependence on China — faced obstruction from politicians more concerned with preserving their own power than delivering on their promises.

Better team, clearer vision

A second Trump administration cannot afford to be held back by the same forces. This time, there are no excuses. The lessons have been learned, and the roadblocks are clear. The next four years must be marked by decisive action, free from outdated GOP orthodoxy and bureaucratic sabotage. Fortunately, the Trump White House now has a team fully aligned with this vision.

To make any of the proposed changes meaningful, we must address the cultural decay that has worsened over the last four years — and that the GOP’s inaction allowed to fester for much longer. Cultural battles are just as important, if not more so, than economic or foreign policy. In his first term, President Trump reshaped the judiciary, defended religious liberty, and resisted the left’s radical cultural agenda. But the left’s extremism has only intensified — targeting children with gender ideology, undermining women’s sports, and weaponizing the legal system against conservatives.

This time, we must go further: defunding left-wing indoctrination in schools, banning irreversible gender-altering procedures on minors, and enshrining parental rights in law. Thankfully, President Trump has already signed executive orders banning biological males from competing in women’s sports and protecting children from the transgender medical industry, taking key steps to dismantle the radical left’s agenda for good.

We must overhaul the federal government to serve the people — not leftist NGOs and special interests that thrive on taxpayer-funded slush funds. One of the greatest threats to the nation comes from the unelected ruling class in Washington. To counter this, the Trump administration launched the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. This initiative is streamlining operations, cutting bureaucracy, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used effectively.

Tackling China

With strong leadership and a clear path to a revitalized America, we must also use the new MAGA consensus to address the greatest external threat to U.S. prosperity: China.

For decades, the political class sold out American workers, offshoring jobs and manufacturing in pursuit of cheap labor and corporate profits. Trump’s first term reversed this trend by renegotiating trade deals and imposing tariffs that revitalized American industry.

But the job isn’t finished. The United States must fully decouple from China, starting with a ban on Chinese ownership of American land and critical industries. Trump’s tariff proposals mark an important first step, but this moment demands bold action. A pollution tariff would be a powerful tool, forcing China to pay for its lower environmental standards while leveling the playing field for American manufacturers.

In 2020, then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer proposed to the World Trade Organization that failing to enforce minimum environmental standards should qualify as an “actionable subsidy,” allowing the U.S. to counter it with tariffs. Now, freed from officials who prioritized cheap Chinese imports over American workers and environmental concerns, the United States must ensure that domestic manufacturing and production take precedence over globalist interests.

Momentum for this shift is already growing. Lighthizer’s successor, Jamieson Greer, recently observed, “There’s an unlevel playing field, and I think other countries take advantage of a total lack of environmental regulation. … How do we actually address that issue? I think we do have to think of creative notions on how to do it.”

As Lighthizer’s former chief of staff, Greer understands the challenge and is well-positioned to take real action against China’s cheating this time around.

Global elites are content to let America decline, effectively handing the future to Communist China. But with strong leadership, this century can and will belong to the United States. A second Trump term is the best — perhaps the only — opportunity to fully implement the “America First” agenda and secure American dominance for generations.

No more half measures. No more bureaucratic sabotage. No more pandering to the old GOP establishment. A second Trump administration must act boldly, decisively, and relentlessly to make America great again. The stakes are too high for anything less.