Middle Powers' Response to the United States’ Trade War Policy During Trump's Second Term
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33822/mjihi.v9i1.14357Keywords:
Middle Powers, Trade War, United States, Trump, TariffAbstract
This article describes middle powers’ response to the United States’ trade war policy during President Trump’s second term. Unlike the first trade war that the United States conducted solely against China during Trump’s first term, the United States' second trade war also targeted Canada, Mexico, and 184 other trading partners with tariffs. This article argues that in response to Trump's second trade war policy, middle powers conducted adaptive strategies to defend their national interests and economic stability. This study uses a descriptive-qualitative research method, with purposive sampling to select the sample of middle powers, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Türkiye. Through secondary data collection, this study found that there are six types of responses conducted by middle powers in response towards the United States’ trade war, including domestic policy alignment, market diversification, negotiation, non-retaliation, regional cooperation, retaliation, and seizing opportunities. The article concludes that despite being under pressure from major powers, middle powers are capable of protecting their national interests amid global economic and political instability.
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