President Trump and the Trade Wars Recounted- Round 1

Abstract

The purpose of this short article is to succinctly chronicle the historical background, underpinnings and key moments of United States President Donald Trump’s first term trade policies. It is hypothesized that there were both “wins” and “losses.” Additionally, the paper analyzes President Trump’ preference to forgo working with the post-World War II international institutions. Furthermore, it is assessed that the policies for the different areas of the world affected each other in the Trump Administration’s shaping of agreements. The paper uses a step-by-step and historical, process-tracing methodology, and concludes that the trade war with China resulted in the United States exporting less than the expected number of agricultural products, partly due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The tariffs are shown to have resulted in a loss of slightly higher prices. The policies of the President Joseph R. Biden are touched upon, and the tariffs at the start of President Trump’s second term.