Trade Tensions Between USA and China: International Marketing Perspective

The U.S.-China trade relations that grew tremendously over the past decades, especially after China’s accession to WTO in 2001, recently however seems to be deteriorating. The two largest economies in the world are observing trade war since 2018. U.S. has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction with the Chinese “unfair” trade policies and accusation of theft of U.S. intellectual property as well as forced technology transfer from the U.S. companies to Chinese entities that has resulted into a huge trade deficit for the U.S. Meanwhile, The U.S. has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods in an attempt to fix the trade deficit by putting pressure on China to liberalize its trade policies and has threatened with an addition $290 billion if negotiations are not reached. In retaliation, China has imposed tariffs on $110 billion worth of American goods, out-rightly criticizing the anti-globalization stance, unilateralism and protectionism practiced by Trump administration. This paper analyzes the effects of the ongoing trade tensions on both the countries, the international economy and other aspects.