There has been a tectonic shift in the trade relationship between the United States (US) and China. This can be seen in the passage of new US legislation, recent US trade restrictions on exports and investment transactions with China, and worsening US relations with the World Trade Organization (WTO), particularly with its dispute resolution system. The Trump administration initiated a haphazard tariff and trade war with China, reversing decades of US trade policy pursuant to its long-standing stances of supporting free trade. To the dismay of many in the trade community within the US and globally, the trade actions by President Trump have been significantly extended and broadened by the Biden administration in its first two years, despite the expectation that it would reverse many of Trump’s policies. In this article, I present seven observations concerning President Trump’s and President Biden’s trade policies.

1. Introduction
2. Trump’s Haphazard Tariff War with China
3. Trump’s New Reliance on National Security asthe Basis of Trade Policy
4. The US Backlash Against the WTO and China.
5. President Biden has Accentuated Trump’sTrade Policies
6. Fading the US Support for the WTO andGlobalization
7. The US Turning to Increased Protectionism andIndustrial Policy
8. Geopolitics is Rewriting Trade Relations and theWorld of Political Risk Analysis for Corporations
9. Conclusion
References

• Stuart S. Malawer(Distinguished Service Professor of Law and International Trade at George Mason University)