DOMESTIC POLITICS AND POWER COMPETITION IN THE U.S.–CHINA TRADE WAR: AN ANALYSIS THROUGH THE LENS OF OFFENSIVE REALISM

Abstract

The US-China trade conflict began in 2018 when the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese goods and China retaliated by imposing their own tariffs, remains one of the most controversial economic and political issues of the 21st century. This study seeks to explain the complex domestic political motivations behind the U.S. decision to use tariffs as a weapon of economic diplomacy and to evaluate their impact on American trade relations and the international economic order. Drawing from the main theories of International Relations, especially Offensive Realism, this study focuses on domestic politics such as economic nationalism, protected interests, and electoral politics which provides a divergence from conventional approaches to trade policy formulated strictly from the prism of economics. this research argues that the United States has deliberately sought to manipulate international perceptions of trade imbalance with China in order to justify the use of tariffs to address trade and domestic market concerns while simultaneously employing them to counter Chinese advancement in global economics and technology. The findings demonstrate a profound disruption of trade in key industries including manufacturing, agriculture, and technology, global supply chains being reoriented toward other markets, and realignment of global power. This work addresses an existing gap in the integration of international relations and political economy by studying the persistent intricacy of tariff systems. It hopes to contribute to policymakers straddling an optimal balance between economic impetus and global power dynamics while underscoring the need for stronger policies for international trade regulation to contain violent clashes erupting from competition in a multipolar world.