Trade Wars and the Changing Balance of Power

This chapter enquires the ways in which the current US–China trade wars are affecting the balance of power in the capitalist system. The discussion analyzes the emergence of US–China trade wars and shows how protectionist trade policies are increasingly deployed by the two leading economies of the globe to exercise greater political pressure against one another. Such trade wars are understood as targeted mechanisms that increasingly comprise a key diplomatic tool in US–China economic relations, and which are also used to promote diplomatic and security objectives in the capitalist system. The chapter also focuses on how middle powers reassess their options when encountering US–China economic frictions. It is argued that middle powers seek to retain access to both US- and China-led economic agreements, but polarization and geopolitical imperatives are increasingly propelling middle powers to provide their own leadership in the negotiation of new trade agreements in the capitalist system.