Decoupling in the shipping industry: The effect of the US-Chinese trade war on the seaborne trade

Abstract

The economic decoupling between USA and China, the two largest economies of the world, as the result of the deterioration of the two countries’ foreign affairs, is expected to have a short-term effect on the seaborn trade. Not only China is the second largest economy but is also a major shipping player, including shipbuilding and ship-financing services. The economic decoupling adds more uncertainty to an already shaken global environment of the last decade, shaped by several disruptions, such as Covid-19 pandemic, BREXIT, the Russo-Ukrainian War, along with the Trump Tariffs in 2018, create uncertainties that affect the shipping industry, representing more than 90% of global trade. This dissertation aims to provide answers by studying the disruption of US and China trade-war on Seaborne Trade. In the following dissertation it is proved that the interaction between the two economies and seaborne trade is decreased after 2018.