The US-China trade war is an unending economic conflict between two of the biggest national economies in the world, the United States and China. In 2018, US President Donald Trump started to set tariffs on China together with other trade barriers with a goal of obliging the other county to make changes to what the United States claims to be unfair trade practices. Some of these trade practices and the effects they make include intellectual property theft, increasing trade deficit, and forced the transfer of the technology of America to China.

Ever since the 1980s, Trump has been advocated tariffs to lower the trade deficit of the US and encourage domestic manufacturing, stating that trading partners are ripping off the country. The imposing tariffs became the major plank of Trump’s presidential campaign.

Even though some politicians and economists argue that the persistent trade deficit of the US is problematic, most economists argue that this isn’t a problem and only a few people advocate tariffs to be a solution. They cite historical evidence that there will be no winners if tariff conflicts continue to escalate.

In the US, the trade war also created struggles for manufacturers and farmers and increased prices for the consumers. This also resulted in economic damage in other countries although there are certain countries that benefited from the increased manufacturing for filling the gaps. This also spurred the instability of the stock market.

Governments of certain countries such as the United States and China have taken the necessary steps to address some damages. The US vs. China trade war has been receiving criticisms all over the world. In the United States, agricultural organizations and businesses have been crucial as well although many farmers continued supporting Trump. There are mixed responses among politicians in the US.

The trade war caused deterioration in the relationship of United States and China as both countries exchanged tariffs for over a year while Trump continues to threaten China without any resolution in sight. The China and US are locked in a bitter trade battle.

The two biggest economies of the world have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other’s goods. The US President Trump has accused China of some unfair trading practices as well as an intellectual property theft. In the country of China, there’s a perception that US tries to curb its rise. The negotiations are still ongoing but challenging at the same time. The uncertainty is weighing on the worldwide economy and hurting businesses from the different parts of the world.

What are the Imposed Tariffs?

The tariffs policy of Trump aims to encourage the consumers to purchase American through making the imported goods costlier. US have imposed tariffs on more than $360B of Chinese goods and China retaliated with tariffs on more than $110B of US products.

Last year, Washington delivered 3 rounds of tariffs and in the fourth round was in September. The latest targeted Chinese imports with a 15 percent duty include meat and musical instruments. Beijing hit back with tariffs that range from 5 percent to 25 percent of US goods. The latest tariff included a five percent levy on the US crude oil, which is the first time fuel was hit in the trade battle.