Who Will Win the US-China Trade War?

The US-China trade war is a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Two
of the world’s biggest economic powers going toe to toe with each other trying to stamp their
supremacy in the trade world. The tussle has reached to boiling point & neither party is ready to
back down. Hence, comes the million dollar question, who wins the trade war?

The base foundation of the trade war was laid by the US president, Mr. Donald Trump, accusing
China of indulging in unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft. This accusation was
countered by China by stating that the US simply wanted to curtail the economic growth of its
country. What slowly started as a meagre increase in trading tariffs of retail goods from both
countries has escalated into raised tariffs on crucial commodities. In the latest tariff rise, a 5% levy
was introduced on US crude oil, which proved to be the first time fuel came into the picture.
Although, the situation has been cooled down by the potential signing of the “Phase One”
agreement between the two countries in the near future, the tensions between them are far from
over.

However, looking at the present scenario, China doesn’t play as crucial a role for US. According to
statistics, almost 1/3rd of China’s consumer market is in the US & a loss of 1/3 rd of its consumer
market can prove to be a major blow for any economy. Also the tariffs raised by China will effectively
backfire onto their own companies in a bid to struggle with the slowing economy. Hence, the likely
result is China lowering the tariffs to ease the pressure on their own companies. Hence, in the long
run the US may end up as victors of the trade war.