US–China Relations: Nationalism, the Trade War, and COVID-19

Abstract

The trade war between the USA and China has shocked many across the world. A disruption to the interdependence of the two largest economies seemed unfathomable. However, in an effort to thwart China's economic practices and boost the US economy, President Trump's administration levied tariffs on Chinese imports shortly after taking office, moving US foreign economic policy from liberalism, practiced for decades, to protectionism. China has retaliated, and the trade war continues today. With conceptual insights from the nationalism literature, we explore the nationalist roots of the trade war from both the US and Chinese perspectives. In the USA, the Trump administration's plan to achieve energy autonomy, decrease reliance on foreign resources, and reinvigorate the manufacturing sector has led to protectionist policies, the othering of China, and hence the trade war. Although reluctant to enter the conflict, China has rebuffed the USA, resisting and counterattacking US actions, owing to a long-felt sense of persecution in the global space and an eagerness to participate fully, and lead in some issue areas, in international affairs. The conflict continues into the COVID-19 era, marked by US scapegoating of China and hits to economic performance. Until both sides are convinced they have achieved their goals, or the USA undergoes an administration change, the conflict will likely continue.

The Struggle for Certainty: Ontological Security, the Rise of Nationalism, and Australia-China Tensions after COVID-19

“…The US-China tension over the WHO's policy toward COVID-19 has grown, marked by the US' scapegoating of China and hits to global economic performance [11]. For Australia, this is an opportunity to stand with Trump, reiterate its endorsement of the US-led order, and display a multilateral approach that differs from Trump's unilateralism.…”

American and Chinese Public Opinion in an Era of Great Power Competition

“…On the one hand, Chinese participants might exhibit higher levels of ingroup bias at a national level, given that collectivist cultures are prone to ethnocentrism stemming from rigid ingroup/outgroup distinctions (Triandis, 1995). On the other hand, individualist Americans may show greater ingroup bias as an expression of "American exceptionalism," the enduring belief that America holds a unique and exalted place in world history (Boylan et al, 2020;Onuf, 2012).…”

US-China Tariff War: A Gravity Approach

“…(Amiti et al, 2019) The initial mark-ups of the US-China trade war consisted of increased tariff rates on imported solar panels and washing machines (Lynch, 2018) and followed by on steel and aluminum (Donnan, 2018). The increased tariff rate was not solely proposed on Chinese goods; however, due to the majority of imports of the proposed items stemming in China, it appears that Chinese goods were the primary target (Boylan et al, 2020). Such tit-for-tat actions complicated the international trade policy scene and brought up questions regarding the future of trade integration.…”

“…Afterwards, negotiations were pursued more strongly, leading to a mutual agreement to a trade deal in the first month of 2020. According to the deal, China was to import more agricultural goods from the US, which has not been met so far due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (Boylan et al, 2020).…”