Trump's China strategy torn apart by GOP tax gurus following evidence of failure

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Turning Point USA event at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., April 17, 2026

President Donald Trump’s image is indelibly linked to that of American business, from branding a real estate empire with his name and giving business advice in his ghostwritten-book “The Art of the Deal” to starring in the business-themed reality TV show, “The Apprentice.” Yet a nonprofit that exists to promote free markets and low taxes, two policy staples of the American business community, accused Trump on Tuesday of failing American business against its main foreign competitor, China.

“Government reviews have repeatedly documented the ongoing failure of Section 301 tariffs to change China’s behavior,” wrote Bryan Riley, director of the Free Trade Initiative for a 501(c)(4) called the National Taxpayers Union. “Ways and Means and Finance Committee Members may want to ask Amb. Greer why we should expect new Section 301 actions launched by USTR to fare any better.”

The “Amb. Greer” in question is U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, who is scheduled to speak before both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee about Trump’s trade policies.

“In light of USTR’s recent announcement of new Section 301 trade investigations, those committees may want to follow up on his statement to the House Appropriations Committee last week,” Riley wrote. “‘In President Trump’s first term, the Section 301 tool was used to great effect.’ His comment referred to tariffs imposed following a 2017 Section 301 investigation into China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. The goal of the investigation was to reduce or eliminate China’s unfair practices in these areas.”

Yet Riley insisted that “subsequent reviews cast substantial doubt on the effectiveness of this action,” ticking off as evidence data from a 2018 USTR update on Section 301, a 2019 Economic Report of the President on Chinese retaliatory tariffs, a 2021 Report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and President Biden’s 2024 four-year review of the Section 301 tariffs.

“China has not eliminated many of its technology transfer-related acts, policies, and practices. Instead of pursuing fundamental reform, the Chinese government largely took superficial measures aimed at addressing negative perceptions of its technology transfer-related acts, policies, and practices,” Biden’s report started per Riley. “At the same time, China has persisted and even become more aggressive, particularly through cyber intrusions and cybertheft, in its attempts to acquire and absorb foreign technology, which further burden or restrict U.S. commerce.”

Although Trump imposed tariffs on a wide range of products at the start of his second term, the Supreme Court famously ruled Trump had abused his power by incorrectly claiming he could levy tariffs unilaterally. The tariffs are also exacerbating inflationary pressures at a time when Trump’s ongoing war against Iran, which prompted Iran to raise gas prices by closing the Strait of Hormuz, has made his tariffs increasingly unpopular.

"These ‘economists’ are idiots,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told AlterNet earlier this month. He was referring to a pair of economists, Richard Wolff and Ed Gresser, who had criticized Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro for arguing the Iran war will lower gas prices. “Peter Navarro is an American Patriot whose loyalty to the President and the American people is unimpeachable.”

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