China Tops US In Global Favorability After 'Liberation Day,' Trump Tariffs Blamed For International Image Slide

A trade war between China and the United States, involving President Donald Trump’s higher tariff prices, could be hurting the nation’s favorability rating.

A new survey shows that net favorability for China has surpassed the United States for the first time since polling began in 2020.

What Happened: A new Morning Consult poll shows China ranking ahead of the U.S. for net favorability as of early April, when Trump announced the so-called Liberation Day, declaring tariff amounts on numerous countries worldwide. According to recent surveys, net favorability ratings have remained with China ahead for the month of April.

Morning Consult has polled residents in dozens of countries, 41 in the latest survey, over the years.

Countries included in the core data since 2020 include the United States, China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain and the United Kingdom. Ratings from a person's own country are removed from the rankings.

A chart shows that the gap between China and the U.S. has increased since the 2024 election. This suggests that Trump’s win may have increased negative views of the U.S. by residents of other countries and/or China’s favorable ratings may have improved over the same period.

Trump's inauguration and quick tariff announcements worsened the United States’ favorability rating.

At the start of 2025, 29 of the 41 core countries in the survey viewed the U.S. as more favorable than China. As of April 30, only 13 of the 41 countries favor the United States over China.

The net favorability rating for the United States appears to have improved after the recent 90-day reciprocal tariff pause between China and America, which will be closely monitored going forward to see if the U.S. can repass China.

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Why It's Important: Trump's approval rating has fallen in many polls in 2025, including a Benzinga reader poll showing his approval rating at the 100-day mark lower than it was during his first 52 days in office.

One factor that could be hurting Trump's approval ratings and the country’s net favorability rating is the stock market returns, which have been impacted by tariffs.

The stock market indexes and stocks have fallen on tariff news, while items like the 90-day pause announcement have sent shares higher and put the S&P 500 back in the green in 2025.

Trump's first 100 days in office saw the worst return for the S&P 500 at the start of a four-year term since Richard Nixon in 1973. The S&P 500 was down 7.8% in Trump's first 100 days, trailing the 9.9% drop in Nixon's first 100 days.

For comparison, the S&P 500 has an average return of 2.1% in the first 100 days of a presidency, dating back to 1944.

While U.S. stocks have been hurt in 2025, Chinese stocks and ETFs have mostly outperformed.

Here's a look at the year-to-date returns of some of the top Chinese ETFs by assets under management:

• KraneShares Trust China Internet ETF (NYSE:KWEB): +19.3%
• iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSE:FXI): +19.6%
• iShares MSCI China ETF (NASDAQ:MCHI): +18.5%

Compare that to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), which are up 0.9% and 1.6%, respectively, on a year-to-date basis.

While stock market performance is only one factor, it would appear that the new presidency and tariffs are among the reasons other countries view the United States less favorably than China.

Read Next:

• Trump’s First 100 Days: What He Delivered, Where He Fell Short, How Markets Reacted

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