The picture shows the high-speed rail project in California, USA (data map)

On the 26th local time, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that the Trump administration canceled another $175 million in funding for the California high-speed rail project.

On July 16th, local time, US President Trump posted on his social media platform that the federal government would no longer provide any funds for the California high-speed rail project, calling it "a catastrophic and seriously overspended 'high-speed rail to nothingness'". On the same day, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that he would cancel about $4 billion in federal funding for California's high-speed rail. (CCTV reporter Xu Wei)

Extended reading

US diplomat: U.S. can provide China with rich experience in rail transport

Recently, around the 17 years unbuilt, $7 billion in California high-speed rail project, the Trump administration and the California government have been arguing. Trump ended federal funding, California Governor Newton launched a "Chinese card", also announced that it has filed.

Just at the time of the two sides "do not negotiate", on July 18, China-U.S. industry representatives gathered at the China International Supply Chain Expo "China-U.S. Railway Transportation Industry Roundtable Conference" to discuss China-U.S. railway cooperation.According to the Hong Kong "South China Morning News" report, the U.S. Embassy in China Business Ambassador Zheng Wang Wakai (Everett Wakai) said at the meeting that China-U.S. railway industry has had a long time and look forward to cooperation.

Wang Yongan said that the United States has long occupied a leading position in freight rail and urban transportation, while China has become a global power in high-speed rail. He believes that the two countries have the potential to deepen cooperation in the field of railway transportation.

Wang also boasted that as a long-standing leader in freight rail and urban transport, the United States can still provide China with a wealth of experience.

Wuhan mobility segment, spring 2025 preliminary opening, 100 groups of vehicles are arranged

Guan Jiaxin, vice president of China Railway Co., Ltd., said the company has extensive cooperation with U.S. companies on equipment, ¡°We look forward to exploring more opportunities for cooperation in markets with strong influence for U.S. companies, such as Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.¡±

According to the South China Morning Post, industry representatives mentioned that over the years, U.S. railway equipment manufacturers have supplied equipment for China¡¯s railway projects, covering domestic and overseas projects, including urban railway transport systems (such as the subway) and conventional railway projects.

Cui Yao, president of Westinghouse Brake China, says the company's revenues have grown from virtually nothing to an average of $500 million a year over the past two decades, with $300 million coming from sales in China and $200 million from products made in China and exported to overseas markets. He calls this "earth-shattering wins."

On the sidelines of the event, another US company representative said: "Our business is not affected by the Trump tariffs because the supply of products to Chinese projects in third countries is not subject to US-China tariffs." The representative added that their supply to local projects in China has also not been disrupted, thanks to the company's high degree of localization, including the establishment of multiple joint ventures with Chinese companies.

The U.S. representative then reminded that Chinese railway equipment manufacturers could possibly find some opportunities in the U.S. subway market, but had little access to space in the railway sector, as the field would be strictly dominated by local U.S. companies.

Slow progress in California high-speed rail project

However, just as U.S. diplomats are boasting and U.S. companies are refusing to enter the United States, the United States 'only high-speed rail project is in trouble.

The California High-Speed Railway Project, as a ¡°biggest¡± issue in the U.S. infrastructure sector, dates back to the early 2008 year. After several delays and cost cuts, the project now only has about 275 km of roadside. But the route alone costs up to $35 billion, more than the initial budget for the entire project, and there is a $7 billion funding gap.

Trump has long been dissatisfied with California¡¯s high-speed rail project.In February, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a compliance review for funding California¡¯s high-speed rail project.A June report showed that the project had issues such as ¡°missed deadlines, insufficient budget and suspicious passenger traffic forecasts.¡±

On July 16, local time, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Daffy announced the decision to withdraw $4 billion in funding for the project. On the same day, Trump wrote on his social media platform that he had rescued U.S. citizens from funding California¡¯s ¡°catastrophic and severe over-expenses on the ¡®highway to nothing¡¯.¡±

Schematic diagram of California's high-speed rail project (Note: the red box shows several major cities originally planned to be connected, and the green circle shows the short section left after the current Governor Newsom cuts the project)

Later on the same day, California Governor Gavin Newson issued a statement in response to saying that the Trump administration¡¯s decision was ¡°illegal¡± and vowed to counter-attack. he also moved out of China, claiming Trump¡¯s move ¡°was to hand over the future to China,¡± and said California ¡°will not let him succeed.¡±

Despite the fact that the California government has repeatedly played "Chinese cards", Newton and Trump's debate around California's high-speed rail project has been linked to the U.S. bipartisan struggle, Reuters, pointing out that Trump's termination of federal funding marks the latest confrontation between a Republican president and a Democratic governor widely regarded as a popular candidate for the 2028 presidential nomination.

On the 17th, the California High-speed Railway Administration filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, challenging Trump's above decision, calling it an "arbitrary and willful" abuse of power. The government agency also said that the U.S. government's investment in high-speed rail is negligible, which is dwarfed by the investment of other countries, especially China.

According to the California High-speed Railway Administration, China has "invested as much as $1.4 trillion to build a high-speed rail network of nearly 28,000 miles". According to the data of China State Railway Group, at present, the operating mileage of China's high-speed rail reaches 48,000 kilometers, accounting for more than 70% of the total mileage of the world's high-speed rail, covering 97% of cities with a population of more than 500,000.