Even before Donald Trump takes office on Monday, trade tensions between the world’s biggest economies are already heating up.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump takes office again promising tariffs that could ratchet up tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

On the eve of Donald Trump’s White House return, the Chinese government announced that last year it recorded a trade surplus of almost $1 trillion, a third of which was with the US.

US seaports handled the equivalent of 451,000 40-foot containers of goods from China in December, a year-over-year increase of 14.5%.

China’s vast exports in 2024 exceeded its imports on a scale seldom seen anywhere except during or immediately after the two world wars.

China’s exports gained momentum in December, with imports also showing recovery, though strength at the year-end was in part fueled by factories rushing inventory overseas as they braced for heightened trade risks under a Trump presidency.

Trade between the world’s two largest economies is on the brink of chaos again. The outgoing Biden administration has turned up the heat in its final days, handing Trump a loaded gun in the form of sweeping restrictions directed at Beijing.