Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on a range of imported goods this year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other officials in Beijing have insisted that there are no winners in trade wars. In absolute terms, they’re right: Everyone is worse off in a trade war. But in relative terms, the negative impacts of protectionism are unevenly distributed by gender, with men often coming out ahead.
After all, these policies are based not only on economic calculations but on political ones, influenced by gender norms that value work that has been traditionally performed by men over that performed by women. This political agenda is often tied to right-wing populist movements. As part of their promise to return to a vaunted past, these movements directly appeal to disillusioned male voters, promising to help them reclaim their lost sense of self—as well as their privileged position in society. Yet their policies further entrench gender inequality around the world, while limiting women’s economic opportunities and raising prices.
The Trump administration’s raft of tariffs are an apt example, as most of them are clearly aimed at protecting traditionally male-dominated industries, most prominently the 50 percent tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper imports and the 25 percent tariff on many automobiles and auto parts. These tariffs are supposed to bring back factory jobs in communities affected by deindustrialization and the shift in the U.S. toward the service economy.