The US-China trade war begins
- Date
- 6 July 2018
- Category
- Economy & trade
- Region
- Global
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 6 July 2018 the United States imposed 25% tariffs on 34 billion US dollars of Chinese imports, the first phase of a broader package, and China retaliated immediately with equivalent duties on American goods such as soybeans, pork and vehicles.
The move, driven by the Trump administration's complaints over the US trade deficit, intellectual-property practices, forced technology transfer and state subsidies, marked the start of an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies. Successive rounds of tariffs eventually covered hundreds of billions of dollars in goods, disrupting supply chains, unsettling financial markets and prompting firms to reconsider their reliance on Chinese manufacturing. The confrontation widened into broader strategic competition encompassing technology, semiconductors, security and influence, persisting across changes of US administration. It signalled the end of the post-Cold War consensus favouring deep economic engagement with China and crystallised a new era of great-power rivalry within an increasingly multipolar and contested international order.
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Related economy & trade events
- The global financial crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers15 September 2008
- The global inflation surge2021–2023 (peak June 2022)
- Xi Jinping launches the Belt and Road Initiative7 September 2013
- Founding of the World Trade Organization1 January 1995
- Nixon shock ends gold convertibility and ushers in 1970s stagflation15 August 1971
- China's Reform and Opening-Up Begins Under Deng XiaopingDecember 18, 1978
Further reading
The wider story
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Best-selling world history told through the trade routes that moved goods, faiths and ideas.
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