Okuzeka
Economics vocabulary · Trade and Exchange Rates

Trade war

Meaning in economics, with examples

nounCommon term

In economics, trade war means: A conflict in which countries raise tariffs or put other limits on each other's imports, often in response to the other side's measures.

In Turkish: ticaret savaşı

How it is used

A media term rather than a technical one. Typical words are retaliate, retaliatory tariffs and escalate. Economists usually warn that trade wars raise prices and hurt growth on both sides; the tariff rises of the 1930s are a common historical example.

Example sentences

  1. Exporters fear that the trade war will escalate further next year.

  2. Economists warned that a trade war would push up prices for consumers on both sides.

Common collocations

  • escalate a trade war
  • retaliatory tariffs
  • all-out trade war
  • trade tensions
  • tariffA tax that a government charges on goods when they are imported, which makes foreign products more expensive compared with local ones.
  • protectionismPolicies that shield domestic producers from foreign competition, for example through tariffs, import quotas or subsidies.
  • free tradeInternational trade with few or no barriers such as tariffs, quotas or subsidies, so that goods and services move freely between countries.
  • importA good or service bought from producers in another country; as a verb, to bring goods or services in from abroad.
  • exportA good or service sold to buyers in another country; as a verb, to sell goods or services abroad.

More terms: Trade and Exchange Rates

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.