Using resources such as major daily newspapers, the Internet (with your parent's permission), and news magazines, observe a current issue that involves international trade, foreign exchange, balance of payments, tariffs, and free trade. Explain what you have learned. Include in your discussion an explanation of why countries must cooperate in order for world trade and global competition to thrive.

Since 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump began to impose tariffs on Chinese goods worth billions of dollars, tariffs which have affected some sectors of the American economy.

President Trump decided to impose the tariffs for two main reasons:

The U.S. has a trade deficit of over $400 billion dollars with China.
President Trump consideres that China is a currency manipulator that artificially devalues its currency: the Chinese Renminbi to make Chinese goods cheaper and more competitive in the foreign markets.

The U.S. and China should try to reach an agreement that benefits both countries and also the world. Because these two countries are the two largest economies in the world, any conflict between them affects the global economy as a whole.

International trade is built on the economic concept of comparative advantage and has brought progress and wealth around the world.