Protectionism in Modern Economic System: Evaluating the US Trade Policies and the Impacts on China and Canada

This research examines how protectionist trade measures affect China and Canada, as both nations primarily encounter such trade barriers from the United States. A protectionist approach includes government-implemented defensive policies that protect domestic industries against foreign market interference by means of taxes and financial assistance alongside restriction limits. This type of control provides temporary economic advantages. However, protectionist policies maintained over time produce economic inefficiencies, together with market volatility that leads nations to take countermeasures, thus reducing market efficiency. China reacted to US tariffs through increased self-reliance combined with its Dual Circulation Strategy and international cooperative agreements to decrease dependency on Western market. The Canadian economy encountered major economic problems due to US tariff retaliation, because it depends heavily on US markets; thus, it initiated immediate actions to diversify trade through various agreements. This research focuses on how trade strategies prove the differing effects of protectionist policies through a comparative analysis that supports multilateral economic stability between protectionist interests and international trade relations.