The United States, China, and the weaponisation of trade

How are the world’s two leading powers weaponising economic interdependence, and how are allies and partners responding? What does this mean for the future of global order?

This book launch at SOAS will explore how both the United States and China have increasingly used trade and economic relations as tools of strategic pressure. While recent attention has focused on President Trump’s tariffs, China has employed trade coercion for more than three decades against a wide range of states and firms. Drawing on new and original data, Dr Victor Cha will discuss the themes of his new book and consider possible responses to the growing threat posed by great power economic bullying.

The event will centre on Dr Cha’s most recent book, China’s Weaponization of Trade: Resistance through Collective Resilience (Columbia, 2026), co-authored with E. Kim and A. Lim. The discussion will examine the strategic use of economic coercion by major powers, the implications for allies and partners, and the kinds of collective resilience that may be needed to protect governments, firms, and the wider international order.

The event will also discuss:

• How the United States and China have used trade as an instrument of geopolitical leverage.
• Why economic coercion has become an increasingly prominent feature of great power competition.
• How allies and partners are responding to mounting economic pressure.
• The broader implications of trade weaponisation for the future of the international system.

Bringing together expertise on international security, trade, and great power rivalry, this book launch offers timely insight into one of the most pressing challenges facing the international political economy today.

Organisers

This event is jointly organised by Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD) and the East Asia research cluster at the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London.