An assessment of the current U.S. trade and tariff policy in the light of the economic theory (PDF)

Essay from the year 2020 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,3, University of applied sciences Frankfurt a. M., language: English, abstract: Table of content

1. Introduction

2. Theories behind trade and tariffs
2.1 International trade theory and the comparative advantage
2.2 Point of tariffs
2.3 Welfare effects of a tariff

3. Assessment of U.S. trade and tariff policy
3.1 Background
3.2 Current issue and assessment

4. Conclusion

Bibliography
Internet sources
List of figures



1. Introduction

The following scientific essay is an analysis of the consequences of tariffs and trade and assesses the U.S. impact on international trade. The term paper is divided into two main parts. The first part includes a theoretical discussion of the international trade theory and provides an introduction to the comparative advantage. It represents an explanation of the usage of tariffs and how it affects a vast country like the United States. The second part is a short assessment of the U.S. trade and tariff policy. The background and the current issue will be discussed. In the end, there will be a summary with a conclusion of this term paper.

In the year 2018 Trump and his administration imposed import tariffs. The tariffs had raged in rate between 10 and 50%. Especially China, the most important trading partner to the U.S. retaliated with tariffs on approximately $121 billion exports from the United States. This behaviour led to the "trade war" between the U.S. and China. Besides, the trading partner China, other trading partners got also imposed with higher tariffs. The behaviour from the U.S. raised some questions about the future path of international trade.