- calendar_today August 21, 2025
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. would welcome 600,000 Chinese students to study at colleges and universities, a move that would dramatically expand enrollment of Chinese students in American schools.
In remarks from the White House, Trump said that even as his administration continued to levy tariffs and warned of more to come, the U.S. needed to maintain academic and cultural ties with China.
“I hear so many stories that we’re not going to allow their students. We’re going to allow their students to come in,” Trump said at the White House on Monday. “It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important. But we’re going to get along with China.”
It’s the latest sign of a possible thaw in relations between Washington and Beijing after months of heightened tensions and tit-for-tat trade restrictions. In March, the U.S. government instituted a 145 percent tariff on all Chinese-made goods, prompting Beijing to respond with a tariff of its own. That 125 percent levy on all American-made products — which are often considered more competitive than Chinese imports in the Chinese market — has rattled American farmers and investors. Trump and his officials have since floated a wide range of further levies against Beijing as the trade dispute drags on, while Chinese state media have dismissed those moves as economic bullying.
The deal to put off additional tariffs on both sides, which was hashed out by negotiators in Geneva in May, has largely held, though the two sides continue to trade harsh words in public. Last week, alluded to a new 200 percent tariff on magnets made in China, saying that Chinese-made magnets have come to dominate the market.
“China, intelligently, went and they sort of took a monopoly on the world’s magnets,” Trump said. “It’ll probably take us a year to have them.”
While Trump was speaking, American universities employed about 270,000 Chinese students. If his proposal were realized, the number of students in the U.S. would more than double. In addition to the cultural and academic benefits, that would be major financial benefits for schools across the U.S., many of which depend on tuition payments from international students.
A Shift From Hardline Rhetoric On Visas
Monday’s remarks represented a reversal of a decision that the Trump administration made in May. At that time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his department was looking at “aggressively revoking” visas for Chinese students and professors, particularly those in the Chinese Communist Party or those working in sensitive fields. The decision was widely decried by universities and others in the higher education sector, who saw it as both untenable and a drain on their faculties.
Trump himself has backtracked since then. Last month, he told reporters that he had “always been in favor of allowing students to come in.” Monday’s comments continue that trend and appear to have been welcomed by the education community.
Trump made the comments on the eve of a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. When asked if he would be willing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he sounded positive.
“I would like to meet him this year,” Trump said, continuing, “as you know, we’re taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and the different things. It’s a very important relationship. It’s a much better relationship economically than it was before with Biden. But he allowed that. They just took him to the cleaners.”
