The Trump administration ordered the divestment of an asset purchase involving a semiconductor company, on the basis that one of the founders of the purchasing company is a Chinese citizen. At this time, there are few public details on the specific security concerns the administration has about the deal.

In late December, China's Ministry of Commerce reached a preliminary ruling imposing anti-subsidy duties as high as 42.7% on European Union dairy imports.

In late December, China imposed sanctions on twenty U.S. defense companies and ten executives in retaliation for a new approval by the U.S. government of arms sales to Taiwan.

After China notified the WTO's Safeguards Committee of a finding of serious injury or threat thereof to its domestic beef industry as part of a safeguards investigation, the U.S. and Australia pushed back with requests for consultations under the Safeguards Agreement.

In late December, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) quietly announced, without even issuing a press release, that it had determined that China's policies and practices in the semiconductor sector were unreasonable, and also burdened or restricted U.S. commerce, and that tariffs would be

On December 31, China concluded its safeguard investigation on beef, with a new tariff-rate-quota mechanism effective on January 1, 2026.

The U.S. Commerce Department's final determination in a countervailing duty case involving file folders from Cambodia has found that subsidies from the Government of China can be considered as part of the assessment of foreign subsidies.