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Domestic Politics and US-China Trade Disputes over Renewable Energy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Ka Zeng
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Abstract

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In this article I draw on the two-level game approach to analyze the influence of domestic politics on US-China trade disputes in alternative energy, especially in solar energy. I suggest that the difficulty Washington faces in getting China to address market access barriers in alternative energy needs to be viewed in light of both the coalitional dynamics in the United States resulting from the specific bilateral trade and investment relationship in this sector and Beijing's willingness to use industrial policy to foster economic competitiveness in nascent industries. Specifically, as China occupies the middle of the supply chain in the solar industry, both downstream users of low-cost Chinese imports and exporters of upstream products to China have voiced strong concerns about US trade action. Such domestic opposition, coupled with the importance of industrial policy for defending the country's long-term interests in a “strategic emerging” sector such as alternative energy, substantially constrains Washington's ability to influence Chinese policies.

Keywords

United StatesChinatrade disputesrenewable energysolar energyTRIMsdomestic politicstwo-level games
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , December 2015 , pp. 423 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the East Asia Institute 

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