Iran, tariffs weigh heavily on Trump’s China tripExBulletin

President Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. Trump travels to Beijing for another meeting with Xi on Tuesday.

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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

As President Trump begins his first trip to Beijing of his second term on Tuesday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Americans largely view China as an economic rival seeking world domination, according to an NPR/Chicago Council on Global Affairs/Ipsos poll.

But Americans also want to maintain strong trade relations with China and would like to see tariffs reduced to keep costs for American consumers low.

Americans think China wants to become the dominant world leader

Nearly 8 in 10 respondents said China wants to become the dominant world leader.

But in a proportion of 56 to 29%, they consider that the threat is more economic than military.

Only 13% believe China poses no threat to the United States.

Most view China as one of the United States’ greatest rivals or adversaries.

A majority of Americans view China as either a rival (37%) or an adversary (21%), but more view it as a rival.

Another one in five consider it a necessary strategic partner, and only 2% consider it an ally.

Among the ten countries surveyed, only Russia was perceived in a more hostile manner. Two thirds say they consider Russia an adversary (43%) or a rival (21%).

Australia was the country most considered an ally (51%), followed by Japan, Germany and South Korea. Saudi Arabia and India were most likely to be considered strategic partners.

(The poll does not include countries long considered allies, such as the United Kingdom or France, or adversaries, such as North Korea.)

Tariffs are mostly seen as a bad thing – for both countries

Tariffs are strongly considered harmful to the cost of living in the United States (76%), the standard of living of Americans (70%), the creation of American jobs (61%), as well as to the Chinese (72%) and American (66%) economies.

A majority of Republicans, however, appear to largely agree with the Trump administration’s argument that tariffs are good for job creation (66%), the U.S. economy (64%) and their own standard of living (52%).

Strong majorities of independents and Democrats disagree.

Most want trade to continue between the two countries

A strong majority (62%) oppose a significant reduction in trade between the United States and China, in part because it could result in higher costs for American consumers.

That’s a change from 2020 and 2021, when, before Trump took office, majorities said they would favor less trade — even if it meant higher costs.

Today, as Americans feel economic pain, they want lower prices. Since many of the things Americans buy are made in China, these tariffs have driven up prices of consumer goods.

A majority (58%) say they are opposed to increasing customs duties on products imported from China.

Seven in 10 people said they wanted to see reduced tariffs on China in exchange for buying more U.S. agricultural products and did not want a reduction in trade.

There are some things Americans are wary of when it comes to trade relations with China. For example, seven in ten people want U.S. companies to be banned from selling sensitive high-tech products to China.

A slim majority (53%) opposes limiting the number of Chinese students studying in the United States.

But there is no broad consensus on these issues.

For example, three-quarters of Republicans want to increase customs duties on products imported from China, while 83% of Democrats (and 67% of independents) are opposed.

Six in ten Republicans also want to reduce trade between the two countries, even if it means higher prices for Americans, and seven in ten Republicans want to limit the number of Chinese students studying in the United States.

The war in Iran is seen as bad for everything from national security to the economy.

Relations between China and Iran will likely be a topic of discussion between President Trump and Chinese leaders.

Iran is something of a strategic partner for China, which buys a lot of Iranian oil.

Americans overwhelmingly believe the war in Iran has been a bad thing for everything from the cost of living in the United States (86%) to U.S. national security (65%) and its reputation abroad (72%), according to a Chicago Council/Ipsos survey on Iran which was also released on Tuesday.

Although a majority of respondents said the war was also bad for China, more respondents said they thought it was good for China’s standing in the world (36%) than for U.S. national security (32%), U.S. relations with its allies (24%), the global economy (14%), or the cost of living in the United States (10%).

There are, of course, political divisions as well. A solid majority of Republicans believe the war was beneficial to the national security of the United States (63%) and the security of Israel (60%).

Half of Republicans also think the war was good for the reputation of the United States (50%) and for its relations with its allies (49%).

Democrats and independents feel very differently. Only 8% of Democrats and 29% of independents believe the war was beneficial to U.S. national security. Regarding the war’s effect on America’s reputation around the world, only 5 percent of Democrats and 20 percent of independents said it was a good thing.

Israel continues to be a political hotbed

A strong majority of Republicans (60%) said the war was good for Israel’s security, but only 1 in 5 Democrats and 1 in 3 independents said the same in the Chicago Council/Ipsos Iran survey.

Most Republicans (58%) also said Israel played a positive role in the Middle East, but 83% of Democrats and 70% of independents said it played a negative role.

This reflects a trend in U.S. politics in recent years, in which more and more Americans say they sympathize more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. This has been particularly acute among Democrats.

Most Americans don’t follow foreign affairs news closely

Only 42% said they follow news of U.S.-China relations fairly closely, according to the NPR/Chicago Council/Ipsos survey.

Foreign affairs, with the exception of the war in Iran, are far from domestic issues, such as the economy and immigration: 70% said they closely follow the economy, 67% said that of the war in Iran, 65% said this when it comes to immigration.

Only 43% say they are closely following events linked to the Russo-Ukrainian war.

These results are based on two national surveys. Both were carried out by Ipsos, using its online panel. The first, dealing primarily with Americans’ views on China, took place March 13-15 and included interviews with 1,025 adults. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. The second set of questions focused on Iran. It was conducted from May 1 to 3 and includes results from 1,018 adults. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.