Once the advocate of free trade and globalization - U.S have taken certain policies under the Trump administration that are acutely targeted to disrupt the same. Disruption of the 'North American Trade Agreement' with Canada and Mexico, and the ongoing Trade War with China right now, portray U.S as a protectionist economy rather than the torchbearer of globalization and free trade which it was once.
U.S import $540 billion worth of goods from China, and it's subjected to 25% tariff, which was 10% earlier, and to retaliate this, China had also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from the U.S which is worth $120 billion. The U.S had also put 'sanctions on' and 'shut off' policies with Chinese firms such as Huawei by showing concerns about the national security, which prevents these firms to sell their products in U.S or their allies.
However, the concern that "The U.S has a $420 billion trade deficit with China is malignant to the U.S economy" isn't entirely true, as a chunk of the import coming from China is made directly by the U.S-owned-capital functioning in China, i.e. a result of the offshore policy of these firms. An official statistics from the U.S indicate that the U.S multinationals have increased their sales figures to $222 billion in 2015 by such policies. This underlining effect of globalization and free trade involved in the trade deficit is not even considered while showing concerns for these trade deficit figures and the increased affection for protectionism. And interestingly, for the U.S farmers who have a $6 billion worth of market in China and 60% of whose soybean exports are targeted towards China, have still remained a loyal supporter of Mr. Trump. A survey showed 78% of these farmers believe that Mr. Trumps policies will be beneficial for the economy. Irony, isn't it?
The benefits of free trade and globalization which had been reaped by the U.S for so many years, and the sudden withdrawal from the same with the advent of the Trump administration is nothing but a sign of the typical US opportunism and will kindle the far right and their protectionist movements worldwide, the signs are already being seen in Europe and various parts of the world. The U.S may again become a torchbearer of the same globalization and free trade in their own time when they realize that the excessive protectionism is leading to a downfall of their own economy and again show their opportunistic face to the world, but it won't come as a surprise.
