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The Causes of The United States Launching A Trade War Against The People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 2018

Hasanuddin Journal of Strategic and International Studies · Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023) · pp. 11–20

DOI
10.20956/hjsis.v2i1.31630
ISSN
2963-1394
Published
2023-12-25
Publisher
Hasanuddin University
Language
en
License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Abstract

The trade war between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) has attracted world attention because it was predicted to affect the global economy. The trade war started with the United States implementing high import tariffs on PRC products, to which the PRC then responded with similar actions. The application of this tariff is a response to the trade deficit that occurred to the United States in its trade with China. The United States' trade deficit with China has existed since 1989. Meanwhile, in 2017, the United States and China agreed to implement a 100-day plan aimed at opening up and expanding trade between the two countries. Thus, the question in this research is "Why did the United States launch a trade war against the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 2018?". The theory used in this research is trade expectations theory. The data sources are official United States government documents, World Bank reports and various journals related to this theme. This paper aims to analyze the causes of the United States launching a trade war against the PRC in 2018. The result of this research is The United States launched a trade war against the PRC was because of the United States' negative expectations of the PRC which made the United States choose war against the PRC even though there was high dependence between the two countries. Negative expectations of the United States were assessed by trade deficit aspect, foreign investment aspect, employment and unemployment rate, and public opinion.

Keywords

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Afifah HumayroAffiliation unknown1
Pahruroji PahrurojiAffiliation unknown1
Nidya SaraswatiAffiliation unknown1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/hjsis/oai, first harvested 2 Nov 2026, last seen 2 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
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	<dc:title xml:lang="en">The Causes of The United States Launching A Trade War Against The People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 2018</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Lailah, Farihah Nishfah</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Virgianita, Asra</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Trade War</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Negative Expectations</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Trade Deficit</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">The trade war between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) has attracted world attention because it was predicted to affect the global economy. The trade war started with the United States implementing high import tariffs on PRC products, to which the PRC then responded with similar actions. The application of this tariff is a response to the trade deficit that occurred to the United States in its trade with China. The United States' trade deficit with China has existed since 1989. Meanwhile, in 2017, the United States and China agreed to implement a 100-day plan aimed at opening up and expanding trade between the two countries. Thus, the question in this research is "Why did the United States launch a trade war against the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 2018?". The theory used in this research is trade expectations theory. The data sources are official United States government documents, World Bank reports and various journals related to this theme. This paper aims to analyze the causes of the United States launching a trade war against the PRC in 2018. The result of this research is The United States launched a trade war against the PRC was because of the United States' negative expectations of the PRC which made the United States choose war against the PRC even though there was high dependence between the two countries. Negative expectations of the United States were assessed by trade deficit aspect, foreign investment aspect, employment and unemployment rate, and public opinion.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Hasanuddin University</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2023-12-25</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
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	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/hjsis/article/view/31630</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.20956/hjsis.v2i1.31630</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Hasanuddin Journal of Strategic and International Studies; Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023); 11-20</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2963-1394</dc:source>
	<dc:source>10.20956/hjsis.v2i1</dc:source>
	<dc:language>en</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/hjsis/article/view/31630/10974</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2023 Hasanuddin Journal of Strategic and International Studies (HJSIS)</dc:rights>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</dc:rights>
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