The trade war between the United States and China as an element of Donald Trump's protectionist policy

The methodology of this work is based on a world system analysis – a scientific theory that accumulates the most recent achievements of Marxist political economic thought. Since it views the world as a single global system that includes the core and periphery, and explores how resources and power are distributed in it, and how this shapes historical processes at the global level, system analysis was used as a key research method by the authors. But in any system there are elements that make up it, connections that arise between them, ways of interaction that determine its state (open or closed) and create a cyclical movement. In the world system, this way of interaction is customs policy. The main theoretical significance of this work is that, based on the discourse of the analysis of news reports, it demonstrates how, due to it, the countries (elements) of the core dictate to the periphery unequal rules of competition in the world market, thus maintaining their dominant position. The practical significance is that its conclusions can be taken into account in strategic planning in the field of domestic foreign economic policy. The article examines the current state of the world market through the prism of this theory. The aggressive protectionist policy of the US presidential administration D. Trump is aimed at closing the system and thus maintaining American control over its functioning. This policy is implemented through a trade war launched against China, which is trying to open up the system. Trump's strategy, unlike traditional methods of trade negotiations, is built on the principle of "carrots and sticks," a combination of manipulation and blackmail technologies in order to force other countries to make concessions to him. This approach is aimed at achieving short-term benefits for American monopolies, but in the longer term it leads to the end of the American capital accumulation cycle. The article provides a consistent materialist explanation of current events in the context of world-systems analysis. The authors analyze how current actions and strategies affect the global economy and the potential consequences of aggressive protectionist policies. The article attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that govern the global system and identify key factors influencing its development in the context of globalization and the changing balance of power. The main conclusion of the article is that despite its technological superiority, the United States are gradually losing control of the global market, which is moving to China. At the same time, trade barriers created by the United States can provoke a large-scale international conflict.