Deep Dive: A 'new world order' will lead to bifurcated blocs and more US-China protectionism

'The new Berlin Wall'

Protectionism is set to dominate future trade relations between the US and China as a “new world order” leads to greater domestic reliance and separate trading blocs, experts argued.

However, new tariffs are less of a concern for markets versus the long-term geopolitically linked volatility. Levels of amicability between the world's two largest economies have historically fluctuated. Rapport between former presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao led to the launch of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, with negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) concluding six years later. Since then, relations have turned sour, as President Donald Trump withdrew from the TPP on his first day in office in 2016, opening the way for sweeping sets of tariffs on C...