Under the direction of Prof. Laike Yang

The year 2019 marked the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, as well as the 40th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-US relationships. The celebrations, however, are tarnished by an escalating trade war between China and the US. The two countries have imposed a series of far-ranging tariff measures on imports from one another. The US has furthermore started to boycott certain Chinese (tech) companies, drastically restricted tech exports by Chinese companies and activated a series of secondary sanctions against third parties engaging with China. While the concrete spectrum of measures implemented develops dynamically, the overall constellation is such that it seriously impedes bilateral trade relations, disrupts global value chains and results in a reduction of the contenders’ as well as global welfare.

The deteriorating economic relationship between China and the US is raising many questions and concerns in Germany and Europe. How is the China–US economic conflict affecting trade between Germany and Europe with China, are there winners or only losers? What are the challenges and possible benefits for Germany and Europe? How does the increasing de-coupling of the Unites States and China influence the political relationship between Germany and Europe with China? Considering that Germany is the second largest exporter in the world, could Germany become a next target for President Trump’s trade war? What this trade war tell us about directions for WTO reform?

Supported by DAAD, the Institute of Chinese Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin together with the Institute of East Asian Studies of the University Duisburg-Essen are organizing on February 21^st 2020 a workshop on “The China-US Trade Conflict and its implications on Germany and the European Union”. The workshop will provide a forum for discussing the causes, current status and possible direction of the Sino-US trade war, its impact on Germany and Europe including its possible wider implications for the political relationship between China and Europe. The workshop also aims to generate ideas and conceptual approaches for future research agendas on this topic.