HKS Affiliated Authors

Excerpt

US-China Trade Frictions and the Global Trading System. Robert Lawrence, 2018, Book Chapter, "Recent trade frictions between the United States and China have violated several rules and practices of the rules-based multilateral trading system established under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). President Donald Trump’s preoccupation with trade balances in goods, both bilateral and total, has led to protectionist trade policies at home— primarily to minimize imports and offshoring by US firms—and aggressive demands for more market opening abroad. President Trump appears to view trade not as an activity from which all nations can gain but rather as a zero-sum game in which some win and some lose." Link