Published Online:October 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of International Relations
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJIR041025
DOI:10.71329/IUPJIR/2025.19.4.77-105
Author Name:Subhash B
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:77-105
The global market has undergone significant changes since the 2016 US presidential elections. Donald Trump’s “America first” and “Make America Great Again”, agenda, a central part of his campaign, became the driving force behind the US-China trade war. His protective measures seek to correct the US trade deficit by imposing tariffs on key trading partners, primarily targeting China’s alleged unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft and currency manipulation. The imposition of tariffs began in 2018 (during Trump’s first term as President) and was strategically continued by his successor Biden; and again in 2025, Trump added more countries to the reciprocal tariff list as a strategy to bring all the countries to the negotiating table. These tariff threats created a lot of uncertainty in the global markets, increasingly straining international relations. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the US-China trade war, examining its causes and implications for the global economy. The study concludes that the world leaders must consider the positive and negative consequences of tariffs, bearing in mind the economic and political connectivity among global economies to prevent global recession.
Trade experts and economists across the globe have long agreed on the idea of liberalizing international trade and removal of trade barriers to reap economic benefits. Trade can be beneficial for all the parties involved, as no country is self sufficient nor endowed with all the resources.