On the evening of March 4th, US President Trump delivered his first congressional address since returning to the White House in prime time. His speech received continuous standing ovations from Republican members and guests, creating a fervent atmosphere. Trump mainly outlined the actions and achievements he has taken in domestic and foreign affairs within the first six weeks of his return to office, with some topics directly or indirectly related to China.
The title of Trump’s speech at the Joint Session of Congress was “America is back”, which started at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and lasted for 1 hour and 40 minutes. According to CNN’s statistics, Trump spent the following time on different topics in his speech: 32 minutes and 31 seconds on domestic policies, 14 minutes and 42 seconds on immigration issues, 13 minutes and 53 seconds on economic issues, 10 minutes and 48 seconds on returning to the White House, 6 minutes and 35 seconds on cultural issues, 5 minutes and 37 seconds on foreign policy, and 5 minutes and 17 seconds on other content.
During the speech, Trump directly mentioned “China” 6 times and indirectly addressed China (the Communist Party) in 3 other topics. He announced the implementation of reciprocal tariffs on all countries starting from April 2nd. Since re-assuming office on January 20th, Trump has already imposed two 10% tariffs on goods imported from China, continuing his “tariff war” and “trade war” policies against the CCP from his first term.
Trump referenced “China” four times when discussing tariffs during the speech:
“On average, the European Union,
China
, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Canada – have you heard of them? – charge us far higher tariffs than we charge them. This is very unfair. India charges over 100% tariff on American cars.
China
‘s average tariff on our products is twice as much as ours, and South Korea’s average tariff is four times as much. Think about it, four times higher – we provide so much military aid and many other forms of assistance to South Korea. But this is how things happen. This is what our friends and enemies do. This system is unfair to America. It’s never been fair.”
“If they exclude us from their markets with non-tariff barriers, then we will also use non-tariff barriers to exclude them from our markets. There are many such things; they even don’t allow us to enter their markets. We will collect hundreds of billions and create unprecedented job opportunities. I did this with
China
, and I did this with other countries as well. The Biden administration is powerless against this because the money is too much. They are helpless against it. For decades, we have been taken advantage of by almost every country on earth, and we will not let this happen anymore.”
“Starting on April 2nd, tariffs will be imposed on agricultural products entering the U.S. and our farmers’ market – this may require some adjustment period. We had a similar situation before (in the first term) when I reached a $500 billion procurement agreement with
China
, I said, ‘Please be patient.’ They (American farmers) were patient, they were patient. Now they might need to be patient again, and this time it will be better. Last time was great. The problem is that Biden did not continue it. He did not execute it. The $500 billion procurement agreement, we did well at that time, but Biden did not continue it, which hurt our farmers, but our farmers will have a great time now. So, for our farmers, they will be very happy.”
With Trump’s tariffs as a powerful tool, many companies are investing in building factories in the U.S. to avoid these tariffs, aligning with Trump’s “America First” policy. Trump highlighted some prominent tech companies, including Taiwan’s TSMC, pointing out that they chose to invest in the U.S. instead of China due to favorable Trump policies:
“Due to our ‘America First’ policy that we are implementing, in just the past few weeks, we have seen $1.7 trillion in new investments in the U.S. The combination of the elections and our economic policies resulted in SoftBank – one of the world’s leading companies – announcing $200 billion in investments. OpenAI and Oracle – Larry Ellison – announced a $500 billion investment. If Kamala (referring to the Democratic presidential candidate) wins, they would not do this. Apple announced a $500 billion investment – Tim Cook called me and said, ‘I can’t spend the money fast enough.’ I believe the actual spending will be much higher. They will build factories here instead of in
China
. Just yesterday, Taiwan Semiconductor, the world’s largest and most powerful, with a huge market share at 97%, announced a $165 billion investment to build the world’s most powerful chip here.”
This is also the only time Trump mentioned Taiwan in his speech. Trump reaffirmed his commitment to reclaiming the Panama Canal, as he does not want its control to fall into the hands of the CCP. He stated:
“The Panama Canal was built by Americans, for Americans, but others can use it. However, its construction came at a tremendous cost of American blood and wealth – 38,000 workers died during the construction of the Panama Canal. They died from malaria, snake bites, and mosquitoes – it was not a good work environment. They were paid high wages to work there because it’s known that they had a 25% chance of dying. If adjusted for modern costs, this was also the most expensive project in our country’s history. It was later given away by the Carter administration for $1. However, that agreement has been severely violated. We didn’t give it to
China
. We gave it to Panama. Now we want it back.”
On the day of his address, a major American company announced the acquisition of a crucial port and facilities along the Panama Canal. Trump praised this move, referring to the agreement where a U.S. consortium led by leading investment group BlackRock and CK Hutchison, a company owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, agreed to sell most of CK Hutchison’s port business, including ports along the Panama Canal and other key assets, to the U.S. for $22.8 billion. This deal will give the U.S. control of the main port along the Panama Canal, freeing the canal from CCP control.
After talking about the Panama Canal, Trump continued to mention his desire to acquire Greenland, stating that it is for U.S. national security and international security. While he didn’t mention “China” at this point, he has previously expressed concerns about CCP infiltration in Greenland and potential military threats posed by China through Greenland.
Regarding Greenland, Trump said during the speech:
“Tonight, I want to convey a message to the great people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future. If you choose, we welcome you to the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security. We are working with all relevant parties to achieve this goal. For international world security, we indeed need it. I think we will get it. No matter what, we will get it. We will ensure your safety. We will make you prosperous and together we will take Greenland to heights you never thought possible before. It has a small population, but vast, vast land, very, very important for military security.”
Trump also specifically mentioned revitalizing the American shipbuilding industry in his speech, announcing the establishment of a dedicated “Shipbuilding Office” at the White House. While he did not mention “China”, this move appears aimed at countering China’s dominant position in the international shipbuilding market and concerns about the CCP’s use of commercial ships for military purposes. He said:
“To strengthen our defense industrial base, we will also revitalize the American shipbuilding industry, both commercial and military. Therefore, tonight, I announce that we will establish a new ‘Shipbuilding Office’ at the White House and provide special tax incentives to bring this industry back to where it belongs – America. We used to build many ships. We haven’t built ships regularly, but we will soon start building ships very quickly. This will have a tremendous impact.”
The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) proposed on February 21st that ships manufactured in China visiting U.S. ports should be charged a fee of $1 million or more for each stop. A survey showed that by 2023, China’s share in the global shipbuilding market would exceed 50%. The USTR believes that the CCP government is subsidizing the domestic shipbuilding industry and harboring ambitions to dominate the global market, unfairly distorting the international shipbuilding industry.
Analysts suggest that Chinese ships, containers, and cranes that enter U.S. ports could be used for various commercial activities or potentially employed by the CCP for military purposes, posing potential security threats to the U.S. and military concerns.
Since taking office, Trump has engaged in a “tariff war” with neighboring countries Mexico and Canada, which he referred to as not a “trade war” but a “drug war”. He hopes these two countries can help prevent fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into the U.S. Trump and his allies have accused the chemicals used in the production of fentanyl of originating from Communist China.
When talking about fentanyl drugs during this speech, Trump did not directly mention “China”; he only said: “There has been a lot said in the past three months about Mexico and Canada; we have very large deficits with both of these countries. But more importantly, they allow fentanyl to enter our country at levels like never before, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens and many very beautiful young people – destroying many families. No one has seen anything like this.”
“We need Mexico and Canada to do more than they are doing now. They must stop fentanyl and drugs from entering the U.S. They need to stop it.” Trump added.