China feeling the brunt of trade war

China and the U.S. are engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war, but if economic health is the biggest bargaining chip – then it seems as if the U.S. is poised to win.

While the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders with a blockbuster earnings season wrapping up, low unemployment and solid GDP growth, China’s economy appears to be stuttering.

Data released Tuesday showed that spending on fixed assets such as factory machinery and public works projects fell to its lowest level since 1999. As reported by Reuters, fixed-asset investment expanded by 5.5 percent in the January-July period and Beijing cracked down on local government borrowing to finance projects.

Industrial output was also a miss, due to pollution curbs and an uncertain trade outlook.

This comes after the country’s stock market has taken a hit, with the Shanghai Composite falling into a bear market in June.

The major U.S. stock market indexes are hovering near record highs.

In June, during a FOX Business interview with Ashley Webster on "Countdown to the Closing Bell, American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Derek Scissors warned the U.S. will beat China the more serious the conflict becomes.

“China depends much more on the American market than we depend on the Chinese market,” he said.

Another round of tariffs will go into effect on Aug. 23, when both countries will apply 25 percent tariff on $16 billion worth of imported goods.