President Donald J. Trump has gone a long way to push back on China’s economic and military ambitions around the world. His scheduled meeting this week with heads of state from West Africa focused on expanding commercial opportunities is a good opportunity to confront Chinese ambitions to expand their reach within these African countries.
The Trump administration has done a good job of pushing back on China’s ambitions by imposing tariffs and boosting military spending. On economic issues, the Trump tariffs have brought the Chinese government to the table to negotiate better trade terms with the United States. Yahoo Finance reported on July 6, 2025, that because of the pressure of imposed and threatened future tariffs, “the US has eased export restrictions on China for chip design software and ethane, a sign that trade tensions are calming between the two countries after they agreed in May to a framework to move toward a larger trade deal.” The pressure of tariffs seems to be leading to renegotiated trade deals that will end up allowing more American access to Chinese consumers while ceasing China’s tacit support for counterfeit products coming from Chinese companies.
On national security, Congress passed the budget reconciliation measure signed by the President with a $113 billion boost to defense spending. This boost to military spending puts the Department of Defense on track for the first $1 trillion defense budget in American history. This increase in military infrastructure and manpower will be another buttress against Chinese influence in the globe.
The Trump administration has done a good job on these big picture issues of economic security and national defense vis-à-vis China, yet more can be done on lower profile issues. Malign, pervasive Chinese activity across Africa requires further attention. In Africa, Chinese companies have signed contracts between 2013 and 2023 for more than $700 billion to build infrastructure projects. The funneling of money into these countries to build up infrastructure is one of the more aggressive and consequential aspects of the Chinese strategy for more power in Africa.
The Biden administration did not do much to push back against the growing economic and political influence that China has exerted in both Latin America and Africa. That nation has implemented a brilliant strategy to box out American interests with little strategy from American politicians to fight back. Allowing China to throw money at governments in those regions is buying them influence and the U.S. needs to fight back by both protecting Western backed corporations abroad while using diplomacy to leverage better relations with nations sitting on critical minerals and petroleum reserves. It makes sense for the Trump administration to reverse that trend by using American influence to reestablish the United States as the nation that will help struggling nations turn around their economy instead of those nations turning to China.
Just this weekend, in what is being described as a secret and unusual agreement signing on Sunday, July 6, Liberian President Joseph Boakai conceded to pressure from a Chinese-backed company to allow access to critical infrastructure, including port facilities. This follows President Joseph Boakai’s visit to Beijing in September 2024 for the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which included a subsequent visit by a Chinese delegation to acquire port facilities in the country. Most recently, the Boakai administration signed a bilateral agreement with China. All of this comes at what the Financial Times reported as a decade-high level of mining acquisitions to secure access to raw materials by Chinese controlled entities.
One news outlet has discovered that some former Biden administration officials who are still working for the federal government pushed “for Liberia to sign an railway infrastructure deal with Ivanhoe Atlantic.” The problem is that this adversely impacts a company ArcelorMital. The company employs Americans in Alabama, Ohio and Texas and is based in the West. The concern is that the Chinese backed port will sideline the Western company for purely political reasons. The company had “spent hundreds of millions of dollars on US-made equipment for their mining operations in Liberia, including $100 million in the last year.” It makes sense to protect American interest by bringing this issue up during any discussions American officials have with African leaders.
President Trump should raise these concerns directly during his meetings this week. The Trump administration has rightly said prioritizing private sector opportunities in Africa and creating enabling environments is the key policy priority for the administration across the continent. Enabling Chinese-backed interests is inconsistent with what should be a shared vision of shared prosperity and economic growth.
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