“Trade wars are good, and easy to win.” –– In a single tweet, President Trump dismissed what used to be a largely bipartisan consensus since the end of World War II: the aim of U.S. trade policy to open markets, further international cooperation, and promote the rule of law. In this course, students learn to assess these current developments in U.S. trade policy and their international implications from a theoretical and empirical point of view. The course starts with discussing economist approaches on international trade, before moving to political-economy perspectives. It introduces the institutions, actors, and processes of U.S. trade politics and, in a brief overview, traces the trajectory of U.S. trade policy from the trade war in the 1930s until today’s trade war. In a next step, it introduces the different instruments and institutions of global trade governance, including the multilateral WTO, pluri- and bilateral free trade agreements , and unilateral tariffs. The course continues focusing on the role of other actors in international trade policy making and their relationship with the United States. Relevant actors include the EU, the BRICS, LDCs, NGOs as well as MNEs. The course concludes with an examination of issues in contemporary trade policy that often challenge traditional trade policy making. Among others, topics to discuss are intellectual property rights, the consequences of global value chains, and the inclusion of non trade issues into trade talks, e.g., environmental obligations, labor rights, and human rights. close