Globalization in front of the challenge of trade wars

Starting from the Great Recession, general drift of the global economy towards more openness was put on pause leaving the room for the opposite trend towards isolationism and protectionism. The expansion of international trade has slowed down, value chains collapse and the ratio between gains and losses from international trade is being re-evaluated in many economies. The United States that were previously the major proponent of free trade and globalization have stricken the strongest blow to it: President Trump has launched the full-scale trade war with China. It may affect the prospects of economic growth worldwide and become a start of new de-globalization era. At the section, the following issues will be discussed:

• What are the real reasons for the US protectionism? Is it a one-man decision or the reflection of objective problems and imbalances?
• What are the impacts of the trade war on the Chinese and American economies?
• Is the protectionism a new normal, are there chances to overcome it in the near future?