Power, Protectionism, and the Global Economy: A Political Economy Analysis of the United States of America–China Tariff Conflict between 2020 and 2025

This paper examines the US- China tariff war (2020-2025) in the terms of political economy exploring the clash of forces, protectionism, and world exchange activity. The study takes place to gain insights into the geopolitical rationale of the tariff actions, examine the consequences of the tariffs on domestic and global economies, and the appraisals of its long-term consequences on multilateral trade regulations. This paper develops a theoretical framework grounded in the political economy of trade policy that relies upon protectionist theories (e.g., strategic trade, rent-seeking) as well as power-based theories (realism, hegemonic stability theory). The results show that the tariff war upset world value chains, increased uncertainty in trade activities and enhanced the process of shifting global economic power to regionalism. Both countries, the US and China experienced negative economic implications in their trade policies, but the policies were geared towards local political interests and structural strategic interests. The crisis also demonstrated the flaws of multilateral agencies such as WTO and increased a trend towards bilateral and regional trade agreements. Finally, the research emphasizes the fact that better balance should be struck on a more geopolitical-based, economically resilient and technically sovereign-based approach to international trade. It is necessary to study new trade wars, online protectionism, and how trade collides with environmental regulations in the future.