Impact of Trade Sanctions on International Relations: A Case Study of US-China Relations

This research paper analyzes the impact of trade sanctions on international relations, focusing on the case of economic sanctions imposed by the US on China under President Donald Trump. It examines the economic and political effects of these sanctions and discusses the relationship between the two countries. The paper also provides recommendations for improving their relations.

Running head: FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
Foreign Policy Analysis
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
Introduction
The international field is quite complex in nature. Since the inception of human
civilization, the various small countries were hostile to each other and viewed the
other in suspicious terms (Mintz, 2016). This was due to the existence of the concept
of territorial expansion with the aid of conquering the land of the other. The leaders of
that time were hungry for power and authority and hence, wanted to gain more
resources under their control (Mintz, 2016). Such resources were both in terms of
natural resources and human capital. However, the situation changed when the world
realised that the nation states could not be allowed to follow this policy of
expansionism without control (Smith, Hadfield & Dunne, 2016). A need was felt to
impose certain restrictions on the power of the countries to interfere in the internal
sovereignty of the other nation states of the world. In this sense, a change was brought
about towards the end of the twentieth century. In the contemporary period of the
twenty first century, nearly all the states of the world are interrelated with each other.
This interdependence exists due to the presence of the trade among the nation states
and not on political grounds (Smith, Hadfield & Dunne, 2016). However, a few nation
states of the world have found out a way to bend the other countries to their will by
exercising their economic power and military supremacy (Barr & Mintz, 2018). One
of the most common example is that of the United States of America. The United
States of America is considered to be the hegemonic power of the world since it is the
only country in the globe to wield so much of power and influence. Almost all the
other states have accepted the advantages of adopting a capitalist nature of the
economic market and therefore, has structured their economy in terms of capitalism
(Smith, Hadfield & Dunne, 2016). In this way, the United States of America has been

2FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
able to exercise its power in the internal sovereignty of the other states. One major
challenge which is arising to the hegemonic power of this country is that of China.
China is rising in the world economic market due to its largest share in the domestic
market and the comparatively low prices of its product (Smith, Hadfield & Dunne,
2016). In this regard, a major trade war can be seen to be in existence between China
and the United States of America which was culminated in to a series of sanctions
being imposed by the United States of America on to China (Dror, 2017). This paper
seeks to analyse several important concepts which applies to the understanding of the
nature of the international sphere. The paper further examines the case study of the
imposition of trade sanctions on China by the leaders of America, especially that of
Donald Trump. The paper concludes with the importance of the existence of a
harmonious relation among all the nation states of the world so that peace and security
is maintained.
Literature Review
There are a variety of factors which guides the actions of a particular country.
The foreign policy decision of a nation state cannot be taken in isolation as it is
interconnected with the other countries of the world through economic inter
dependence and therefore, by extension, their political affairs (Alden & Aran, 2016).
This is so because the foreign policy decisions shapes the future course of action of
the countries with regard to other countries of the world. This is vital for the
maintenance of peace and harmony throughout the world as the countries are closely
inter related with each other (Gramer, De Luce & Lynch, 2017). In this sense, the
foreign policy advisers have to act in accordance keeping in mind this complex
system of interrelation which exist between the different nation states of the world.

3FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
The decision of the leader of the United States of America that is Donald Trump to
impose an economic sanction on China in 2018 can be analyzed from certain points of
view.
The first theme which needs to be examined in the field of foreign policy decision
is that of perception (Moens, 2017). Perception is a subjective quality of an
individual and this guides him or her to evaluate the existence of a particular situation
and accordingly take decisions to the best of the ability. The perceptive power of an
individual differs from person to person. What may appear to be a threat to a
particular individual may not be such an intense situation to another individual
(Draper, 2017). Hence, as a consequence, the decisions of the people will also differ
with such differences in perceptions. This sense of perception is very significant in the
context of international relations (Smith, Hadfield & Dunne, 2016). The leaders of the
state have a certain perception about the world affairs which might be in alignment
with the real context or might be wildly different. In the case that the perception of
such state leaders is similar to the real ground reality, then no problems would arise as
they would be able to handle the situations in an effective manner (Kubálková, 2016).
However, if the perceptions of such state leaders are not in alignment with the ground
reality, then a problem may arise whereby they might embark on certain outdated
policies which would harm the interest of their states and the interest of all other
states interrelated to it. In other words, their foreign policy might be detrimental to
their own citizens. In this context, the character of Donald Trump can be analyzed to a
certain degree. His perception regarding the threat imposed by the country of China
might be exaggerated (Gill, 2016). As a consequence, his policy to impose an
economic sanctions on the goods imported from China might escalate to a greater

4FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
trade war where the United States of America might face pertinent problems (Smith,
Hadfield & Dunne, 2016).
Another theme which can be analyzed in the context of international relations
which have a greater bearing on such inter relations is that of rationality (George,
2015). Leaders need to be rational in their foreign policy decisions. The concept of
rational refers to that situation where logic is applied in order to overcome a
particularly problematic condition. In this sense, it is extremely vital that the state
leaders are guided by a sense of logic. Foreign policy decisions are not made out of an
unanimous decisions even though this idea exists in popularity (Khara, 2018). Instead,
the decisions are often taken in majority where one group of individuals want to take
recourse to one particular point of action while the other group may favour some other
approach. The logic of both the groups may be sound to their respective selves while
it might appear to be illogical or flawed to the other group (Raunio & Wagner, 2017).
The rationality in this context appears when both the groups understand that the
protection of their national interest is the main priority and that peace and harmony
should prevail over the world. If this sense of rationality is applied in the context of
the United States of America and its decision to impose an economic sanction on the
region of China then it might be seen that the decision was completely Presidential in
orientation. This is known as Unitary Actor Assumption (Gramer, De Luce &
Lynch, 2017). The Government of United States of America, that is the Congress, was
majorly in opposition to such an idea and instead persuaded the President not to take
recourse to such an action, in the view of potential repercussions. Donald Trump, on
the other hand, believed in the protection of the national interest of the country and of
its citizens (Jentleson, 2017).

5FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
A third theme which can be examined from the point of view of international
relations is that of international constraints (Pfiffner, 2018). In the contemporary
phase of globalization where all the countries are deeply integrated with one another
in economic terms and some countries are heavily dependent on the other for their
economic survival, the constraints are higher (Haass, 2017). This is known as pseudo
colonialism where there is no direct colonial hold over a country but with the aid of
economic support and dependency, the modernized countries of the world today have
a strong hold over the developing countries and those who are yet to be developed. In
this context, the idea of international constraint can be explained in a comprehensive
manner (Haffa, 2017). Constraints refer to certain obstacles in the way to achieve a
particular target. Usually these constraints are natural in nature, but at times it can be
human made also. In the field of international relations the constraints are more
ethical in nature and at times, pre-emptive (Clarke & Ricketts, 2017). The different
countries of the world cannot under take any such measure or action which might
have an adverse impact on other countries, thereby posing a potential threat to the
balance of peace and harmony in the world. In this aspect, the decision of the
President of the United States of America to impose certain economic sanctions on
the country of China can be observed to be working without any constraints (Gordon,
2017). China posses one of the largest domestic market in the world. Exports in to this
market would automatically mean a higher form of economic return to the countries
exporting their goods and services to China (Gramer, De Luce & Lynch, 2017).
However, the decision of the President Donald Trump was not guided by this factor.
He viewed China to be a threat to its hegemonic power and hence decided to impose a
ban on Chinese goods (Haines, 2017). This decision has only one advantage that is
Chinese goods are priced at very low prices in the international economic market. As

6FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
a result, the domestic goods of the other countries often faces strict competition for
such Chinese goods. This in turn, has a negative impact on the domestic producers of
such countries who often lose their sources of livelihood (Pu & Wang, 2018).
However, in the context of capitalism which is often advocated by the United States
of America, such competition is deemed to be healthy and therefore, is often
encouraged.
Question and Strategy
The aim of this research paper is to analyze the impact of foreign policy decisions
in the context of international relations, by taking the case study of the economic
sanctions imposed by the regime of the President of United States of America, Donald
Trump, on China.
In this respect, the objective of this research paper is to analyze certain aspects -
1. To analyze the economic impact of trade sanctions on the international relations
among the different countries of the world.
2. To examine the political impact of trade sanctions on the various nation states in
the globe and its effect on their shared relations
3. To discuss the international relation shared by America and China in the face of
trade sanctions under the regime of the President of the United States Donald Trump.
4. To recommend certain measures which will help to improve the relation between
the two countries, that is China and the United States of America.
In this respect, the research tries to answer certain questions -

7FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
1. What is the economic impact of trade sanctions on the international relations
among the different countries of the world?
2. What is the political impact of trade sanctions on the various nation states in the
globe and its effect on their shared relation?
3. How is the international relation shared by America and China affected in the face
of trade sanctions under the regime of the President of the United States Donald
Trump?
4. What are the various recommendations which will help to improve the relation
between the two countries, that is China and the United States of America?
Case Study of the economic sanction imposed by The United States of
America on China on 2018
Donald Trump became the President of the United States on 2016, succeeding
Barack Obama. The idea of Donald Trump can be seen in the following two years
where he wanted to make America great again by advocating for a policy of
isolationism (Shirk, 2017).The country of the United States of America is considered
to be a hegemonic power not only in the Western Hemisphere but all across the globe.
After the demise of the Soviet Union and thereby, the end of the ideal of socialism,
the capitalist form of market slowly and gradually spread all across the world (Wang
et al., 2018). This was greatly appreciated by the United States of America as it
wanted to establish an economic system where the interference of the government
would be minimal. This is turn would give greater powers to the various private sector
organizations to exercise their freedom over the domestic market as well as the
international market (Gramer, De Luce & Lynch, 2017). In this sense, the country of

8FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
the United States of America was looked up to by almost all other nation states of the
world, while being hated by several other, especially those who still believed in the
ideals of socialism (Pei, 2018). Till the reign of Barack Obama, the Presidents of the
United States tried to maintain a cordial relations with the socialist countries of the
world, especially that of Russia and China. These two are considered to be a
formidable threat to the country of America. Hence, the state leaders wanted to keep
them at bay (Yarhi-Milo, 2018). However, with the onset of the reign of Donald
Trump as the President of the United States of America, the tables turned when he
went out on a full scale war with those countries who did not abide by the wishes of
the hegemonic power. One of those countries who faced the wrath of the United
States of America was China
In 2018, Donald Trump decided to put a stop to the threat posed by China by
initiating economic sanctions against the good imported from that country. This came
as a major shock to many state leaders across the world, even to the citizens to both
the involved countries. China has one of the largest domestic market in the world
(Swanson, 2018). The imposition of the economic sanctions meant that no goods from
China can be imported in to the United States of America and also that no goods
belonging to America could be exported to China. As a consequence, the American
market would be impacted severely as it would be closed off to one of the largest
consumer market.
This decision of Trump can be analyzed from several view points. First, is the
view point of politics (Ross, 2016). The United States of America is the most
powerful hegemonic country in the world. Its policy of capitalism and liberal
democracies have been accepted by majority of the countries around the world. As a
result, the leaders of America saw the world as their play ground where they are free

9FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
to take any course of action as they wished (Gramer, De Luce & Lynch, 2017). No
other country was as powerful as the United States of America in terms of economic
stability and military power (Liu, 2018). As such, the other powers of the world
remained subservient to that of the united States of America. However, with the rise
of the power of China, the leaders of America started to face an unknowing threat.
They never realised that a socialist country with almost non-existence democracy
could pose a challenge to their power (Gramer, De Luce & Lynch, 2017). China
started to spread its influence slowly by extending the hand of friendship to other
socialist countries of the world, such as North Korea and Russia. The United States of
America has an uneasy political relation with both these countries as they believe in
socialist ideals. Besides extending friendly relations, China also posed a major threat
to the other countries in the Far East, especially to the countries of Japan and
Philippines and other countries in the vicinity. China embarked on a mission to
occupy more territories which could only be done by occupying the lands belonging
to other countries (Gramer, De Luce & Lynch, 2017). The leaders of China invariably
did so which was strictly against the spirit of internal sovereignty and the guidelines
mentioned in the United States organization. However, no country dared to launch a
physical attack against such a powerful country and instead chose to protest in the
international forum where not much headway can be noticed (Gramer, De Luce &
Lynch, 2017). Even the United States have proved to be ineffective in front of China
and her determination to expand its territories. As a result, Donald Trump decided to
impose economic sanctions against China in order to curtail the rising power of this
country.
The decision of the President of the United States of America can also be
analyzed from an economic perspective (Ross, 2016). The products and services that

10FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
are produced in China are priced at very low prices due to the high population in that
country. The large number of unemployed people are willing to work at low wages
due to unavailability of jobs and hence, the final price of the product automatically
reduces. This has posed a great challenge to the domestic producers within the United
States of America. Over there, the price of the products are considerably higher due to
the usage of advanced technology in making them (Haffa, 2017). Moreover, the
population there is also less and hence, relatively higher wages need to paid to the
workers in order to retain them. As a result, the final price of the product is
automatically higher. In this scenario, when the products of from China is imported in
to the American territory, they pose a challenge to the domestic products which are
higher in their sale value. As a result, the consumer market prefer the Chinese product
over the American product, thereby adversely affecting the wealth generated by the
domestic country. On the other hand, the external treasury of China benefits from the
higher sale of their products.
The analysis of both these scenarios justifies the decision of Donald Trump to a
certain extent. He wanted to protect the people of the United States of America by
ensuring that no goods from China enter the country (Haass, 2017). He did this by
increasing the customs duties levied on to the Chinese goods exported in to the
country. This was done with the intention that the domestic producers of the country
would find some relief by the way of being able to sell their own products. Moreover,
by limiting the exports of China and thereby, by effectively blocking off the economy
of the hegemonic power of the world from the influence of Chinese goods, Sonald
Trump wanted to send a message to China. He wanted the state leaders of China to
take this as a sign of protest against its ever increasing power by resorting to unethical
means. The actions of China in the international forum has been resented by many but

11FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
they are unable to effectively fight against the growing power of China as many of
them are economically dependent upon the country.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that the foreign policy decision of any country has to
be crafted in a careful manner so that it does not pose a threat to any other country of
the world. The drafting of foreign policy is important as it shapes the future course of
action of any country. Moreover, the relation shared among the different countries of
the world also depends largely upon the foreign policies of the various nation states.
In this respect, it is essential that the decisions with respect to other countries should
be taken keeping in mind that in the present world scenario, nearly all the countries
possess almost the same power. The United States of America might be the leading
hegemonic power in the world, but there are many nation states which have become
relatively powerful than they were in the twentieth century. One such example is that
of China. The region of China has been able to collate so much ability and power due
to its large domestic market. It has been able to effectively utilise the true potential of
the market by ensuring that all the people in its domestic territory are given
opportunity to work. The decision of Trump to impose an economic sanction on
China is bound to have some repercussions in the form of trade wars between the
countries which has the potential to pull all other countries in to its midst. In this
respect, it is essential that no decision should be taken in haste and in an unilateral
manner. The Government should be carefully consulted with and after much
deliberation, actions should be taken in a careful and friendly manner.

12FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS
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