TMC topic guide
Trade
Created: July 2020
Last Updated: December 22, 2022
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Note: This guide covers a wide range of articles related to global trade, including the Trump administration’s trade war with China, the U.S. exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on global supply chains.
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Table of contents
U.S.-China trade war
Trump’s trade policy (general)
U.S. trade and national security
Trade agreements
USMCA/NAFTA
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
International trade
General
Russia-Ukraine crisis
U.S.-E.U. trade
U.S.-India trade
U.S.-Asia trade
Brexit and U.K. trade negotiations
U.S.-China trade war
- Henry Farrell, “How does the U.S. block China from getting microchips made abroad?” October 8, 2022.
- Matthew Amengual and Tim Bartley, “U.S. banned imports from China’s Xinjiang region. Will Americans object?” August 8, 2022.
- Nina Hall, “Five things to know about Jacinda Ardern’s trip to the U.S. this week,” May 24, 2022.
- Lindsay Dolan, Robert Kubinec, Daniel Nielson, and Jiakun Jack Zhang, “Trump’s trade war with China failed. Why didn’t U.S. companies push back more?” February 16, 2022.
- Jiakun Jack Zhang, and Samantha A. Vortherms, “U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods didn’t bring companies back to the U.S., new research finds,” September 22, 2021.
- Don Casler and Richard Clark, “Biden will inherit Trump’s trade war with China. What do Americans really think about tariffs?” December 7, 2020.
- John Kuk and Nazita Lajevardi, “The Trump administration sanctioned China for detaining 1 million Uighurs. Here’s what Americans think,” September 21, 2020.
- Gloria Xiong, “Beijing increasingly relies on economic coercion to reach its diplomatic goals,” July 23, 2020.
- Jiakun Jack Zhang, “The U.S. and China finally signed a trade agreement. Who won?” January 21, 2020.
- Donglin Han, “Will a signed trade deal ease U.S.-China tensions? Probably not,” January 2, 2020.
- Thomas Gift, “China has reasons to keep fighting a trade war,” September 4, 2019.
- Scott Kennedy, “Is China a strategic partner or rival power?” July 2, 2019.
- Jeffrey Kucik, “Trump may be ending the trade war with China. Who won?” February 27, 2019.
- Yu Zhou, “U.S. trade negotiators want to end China’s forced tech transfers. That could backfire,” January 28, 2019.
- Roselyn Hsueh, “Three things that the trade war with China won’t change,” January 3, 2019.
- Yeling Tang, “Will U.S. trade pressure actually change China’s industrial policy?” December 20, 2018.
- Henry Farrell, “The U.S. often takes hostages in trade fights. They usually aren’t live human beings,” December 12, 2018.
- Stephanie Rickard, “Why did Trump agree to a temporary hold on further China tariffs?” December 10, 2018.
- Cathy Xuanxuan Wu, “Trump and Xi will soon meet. What can political science tell us about current U.S.-China tensions?” November 30, 2018.
- David M. Edelstein, “A more assertive Beijing raises new questions for U.S.-China relations,” October 25, 2018.
- Scott Kastner, Margaret M. Pearson, and Chad Rector, “What the Trump administration’s confrontational approach misses about China,” October 12, 2018.
- Stacie E. Goddard, “The U.S. and China are playing a dangerous game. What comes next?” October 3, 2018.
- David A. Lake and Jessica Chen Weiss, “The Trump administration wrongly assumed China would capitulate in a trade war. What happens now?” September 24, 2018.
- David A. Lake, “Worried about tariffs? Trade blocs are the real danger to the U.S. and China,” August 24, 2018.
- John Seungmin Kuk, Deborah Seligsohn, and Jiakun Jack Zhang, “Why Republicans don’t push back on Trump’s China tariffs — in one map,” August 7, 2018.
- Kristen Hopewell, “What is ‘Made in China 2025’ — and why is it a threat to Trump’s trade goals?” May 3, 2018.
- Ling Chen, “How this trade war could backfire — in China’s favor,” June 25, 2018.
- Yu Zheng, “How will China react to Trump’s tariffs? Here are 5 things you should know,” March 29, 2018.
- Chad P. Bown and Douglas A. Irwin, “Does Trump want a trade war? What you need to know about Smoot-Hawley tariffs and the 1930s,” March 21, 2018.
- Ka Zeng, “Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products won’t work. Here’s why,” March 20, 2018.
- Chad P. Bown, “China’s latest trade maneuver is worrying. Here’s the story,” February 6, 2018.
- Roselyn Hsueh, “ What will Trump change about trade relations with China? Here’s what you need to know,” January 10, 2017.
Trump’s trade policy (general)
- Jiakun Jack Zhang, and Samantha A. Vortherms, “U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods didn’t bring companies back to the U.S., new research finds,” September 22, 2021.
- Chad P. Bown, “For Trump, it was a summer of tariffs and more tariffs. Here’s where things stand,” September 13, 2018.
- Chad P. Bown and Douglas A. Irwin, “Does Trump want a trade war? What you need to know about Smoot-Hawley tariffs and the 1930s,” March 21, 2018.
- Alexandra Guisinger, “Why Trump’s steel tariffs may end up helping him politically,” March 7, 2018.
- Chad P. Bown, “Trump has announced massive aluminum and steel tariffs. Here are 5 things you need to know,” March 1, 2018.
- Chad P. Bown, “What is GSP and why does it matter for U.S. trade?” January 25, 2018.
- Alexandra Guisinger, “Americans’ views of trade aren’t just about economics. They’re also about race,” August 16, 2017.
- Krzysztof J. Pelc, “Will Trump’s unilateral trade approach work? History says no,” March 7, 2017.
U.S. trade and national security
Trade agreements
USMCA/NAFTA
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
- Todd N. Tucker, “Recent WTO rulings may complicate green industrial policies,” December 20, 2022.
- Timothy Meyer and Todd N. Tucker, “There are two ways to kick Russia out of the world trade system. One is more likely to work,” March 11, 2022.
- Julia Gray and Philip Potter, “The WTO might return to diplomatic settlements for trade disputes. Here’s why,” December 20, 2019.
- Krzysztof J. Pelc and Joost Pauwelyn, “The WTO’s trade dispute appeal system could end on Dec. 10. Here’s what you need to know,” December 5, 2019.
- Todd Tucker, “The WTO just blew up Trump’s argument for steel tariffs,” April 5, 2019.
- Kristen Hopewell, “The WTO just ruled against China’s agricultural subsidies. Will this translate to a big U.S. win?” March 4, 2019.
- Marc L. Busch, “Trump claims that a national security exception allows him to block imports. Is he right?” January 11, 2019.
- Paul Poast, “These surprising countries could emerge as the heroes of NATO — and the liberal world order,” July 10, 2018.
- Karen J. Alter, “Trump’s tariffs aren’t the biggest trade problem. Will China step up to protect the WTO?” June 18, 2018.
- Krzysztof J. Pelc, “The U.S. broke a huge global trade taboo. Here’s why Trump’s move might be legal,” June 7, 2018.
- Julia Gray, “Are we witnessing the collapse of the global order? Probably not — yet,” May 18, 2018.
- Rachel Brewster, “Trump is breaking the WTO. Will China want to save it?” May 2, 2018.
- Manfred Elsig, Mark Pollack, and Gregory Shaffer, “Trump is fighting an open war on trade. His stealth war on trade may be even more important,” September 27, 2017.
- Chad P. Bown, “Is the WTO one of Trump’s ‘big quagmire deals’? Here’s what’s at stake,” February 28, 2017.
- Bryan Schonfeld, “Why the U.S. needs the World Trade Organization,” September 20, 2016.
- Chad P. Bown, “The U.S. filed a WTO dispute to save jobs — by increasing imports from China. Here’s why,” July 26, 2016.
International trade
General
- Brandon Prins, Aaron Gold, Anup Phayal, Simon Rotzer, Curie Maharani, Sayed Riyadi, and Kayla Marie Reno, “What will keep ships — and people — safer in the Gulf of Guinea?” June 9, 2022.
- Mark Copelovitch, “Jack Dorsey is wrong. The dollar is still a global reserve currency,” June 2, 2022.
- Benjamin L. McKean, “Delayed Christmas gifts are just the beginning. The supply chain crisis isn’t going away soon.,” December 21, 2021.
- Jan Stockbruegger, “The U.N. climate report is dire. So why are there no limits on maritime shipping’s carbon emissions?” August 12, 2021.
- Henry Farrell, “Europe’s top trade official has been forced to resign,” August 26, 2020.
- Adam Dean, “Free trade doesn’t just lead to job loss. It means more deaths from drug overdoses and increased military recruitment,” July 15, 2019.
- Adam Dean, “Trump says he wants to protect steelworkers. Why are they unhappy?” September 20, 2018.
- Adam Dean, “Trump and Clinton are both wrong. Trade policy won’t automatically raise U.S. workers’ wages,” September 13, 2016.
Russia-Ukraine crisis
- Henry Farrell, “America and Europe are targeting Russia’s oil profits,” December 22, 2022.
- Inwook Kim, “What rising oil prices tell us about the oil market’s geopolitics, ” April 12, 2022.
- Jura Liaukonyte, “Foreign companies continue to prop up the Kremlin,” April 8, 2022.
- Timothy Meyer and Todd N. Tucker, “There are two ways to kick Russia out of the world trade system. One is more likely to work,” March 11, 2022.
- Cullen Hendrix, “Russia and Ukraine are key exporters of food and energy. Will global prices spike?” March 2, 2022.
U.S.-E.U. trade
- Henry Farrell, “America and Europe are targeting Russia’s oil profits,” December 22, 2022.
- Bentley Allan and Todd Tucker, “The E.U.-U.S. steel deal could transform the fight against climate change,” October 31, 2021.
- Julia Rone, “Why Europeans may not want a U.S. trade deal,” October 4, 2018.
- Bruce Stokes, “What do Americans really think about the U.S.-E.U. trade tiff?” July 30, 2018.
- Wade Jacoby, “President Trump just threatened Germany over trade. Here’s what you need to know,” May 30, 2017.
U.S.-India trade
U.S.-Asia trade
- Henry Farrell, “How does the U.S. block China from getting microchips made abroad?” October 8, 2022.
- Matthew Amengual and Tim Bartley, “U.S. banned imports from China’s Xinjiang region. Will Americans object?” August 8, 2022.
- Todd N. Tucker, “Supply chains endanger American security. Here’s what Biden is doing,” May 17, 2022.
- Andrew Yeo, “Four reasons Trump's Asia trip is so important,” November 4, 2017.
- Vanessa Lide, “Okay, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead. What was it?” January 23, 2017.
Brexit and U.K. trade negotiations