US Trade Wars: Drivers, Global Economic Realignments, and Consequences for India

This article speaks about the development and consequences of US-initiated trade wars beyond the Trump era, with specific emphasis on their consequences for India. Although President Donald Trump’s hawkish tariffs and nationalism heightening global trade tensions dominated headlines, the causes of these tensions are rooted even deeper in structural economic realignments in global power, technology rivalry, and strategic economic reorientation. This paper analyzes the reasons for such trade disputes, such as overcapacity in industry, currency manipulation, and the race towards technological supremacy. It outlines the world implications of interrupted trade patterns, increased cost of inputs, and inflationary pressures, especially for emerging economies that depend on exports and foreign direct investment. Additionally, the paper examines how India’s economy is realigning their trade policies by diversification, regional integration, and domestic capacity-building investments to insulate against risks and maximize new possibilities in an evolving global order. Finally, it emphasizes the need for emerging economies to increase resilience, adopt innovation, and project a more assertive role in determining the post-globalization economic order. This study discusses significant and critical problems of emerging concern that are of the utmost significance in the current global context of rapid change and interlinkages, emphasizing their pertinence in the contemporary context.