Foreign Media: Comprehensive Comparison of U.S. and China's National Strength
Trade: In 2001, the United States exported $729 billion, ranking first globally, while China exported only $266 billion, ranking fourth. Today, the situation has reversed—China exported $3.59 trillion in 2024 with a trade surplus exceeding $1 trillion, whereas the U.S. exported $1.9 trillion but imported $3.12 trillion, resulting in persistent trade deficits that have become a justification for Trump’s imposition of tariffs.
Currently, the average effective tariff rate imposed by the U.S. on China is approximately 31.6%, while China levies a base tariff of 10% on all U.S. goods, with some products subject to additional tariffs as high as 77%. Bilateral trade volume in 2025 is still expected to exceed $500 billion, yet it continues to shrink due to ongoing tariff wars.
Military: The U.S. military budget stands at $95.4 billion (3.1% of GDP), while China’s is $33.6 billion (1.7% of GDP)—the U.S. leads by nearly threefold.
Energy: China consumes 48,477 TWh annually, ranking first globally, with green energy investments totaling $290 billion; the U.S. consumes 26,349 TWh, with green energy investments amounting to $97 billion.
Technology: The U.S. leads globally with $109 billion invested in AI enterprises, holding advantages in chips and large-scale models (such as ChatGPT and Gemini); China’s electric vehicle penetration rate approaches 50%, far surpassing the U.S.’s 10%.
Rare Earth: China holds 44 million tons of reserves, accounting for over half of the world’s total, and dominates global processing. The U.S. has only 1.9 million tons of reserves and remains highly dependent on imports from China.
Original Source: toutiao.com/article/1865067816323082/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.