DOI: 10.1002/tie.

22325

COMMENTARY

U.S.-China trade war and competitive advantage of Vietnam

Bablu Kumar Dhar 1 | Thanh Tiep Le 2 | Tina A. Coffelt 3 |

Jakhongir Shaturaev 4
1
Mahidol University International College,
Mahidol University, Phutthamonthon, Thailand Abstract
2
Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics China has been losing international competitiveness in labor-intensive industries due
and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
3
to various factors, including the trade war with the United States and globalization.
Department of English, Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa, USA Vietnam, however, has rapidly expanded its labor-intensive exports. The paper
4
Tashkent State University of Economics, proposes to explore the future of labor-intensive industries in Vietnam due to the
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
U.S.-China trade war. The paper examines export performance data from United
Correspondence Nation Comtrade for 10 specific labor-intensive industries that serve the U.S. market
Bablu Kumar Dhar, Mahidol University
between 2000 and 2020 to assess the possibility of Vietnam overtaking China's posi-
International College, Mahidol University,
73170, Thailand. tion as the world's largest manufacturer. Using situation analysis, the paper compares
Email: bablu.kum@mahidol.ac.th
the competitive advantage of Vietnam in labor-intensive industries due to the
Thanh Tiep Le, Ho Chi Minh City University of
Economics and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City,
U.S.-China trade war. The paper found that China's competitiveness was negatively
Vietnam. impacted for the final two periods, while Vietnam's competitive advantage increased.
Email: tieplt@uef.edu.vn

KEYWORDS
competitive advantage, labor-intensive industry, U.S.-China trade war, Vietnam

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N manufacturing employment in the U.S. dropped by 35% between

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the United Kingdom
led the first transfer of international industry; Japan and Germany
followed after the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. In the
1970s, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong became
manufacturing hubs (Deyo, 2019). Since the early 1970s, when
China began its economic reforms, trade volume between the
United States and China has proliferated. China became the world's
factory after its reform and opening policy in the 1980s
(Byrd, 2019). The United States and China became one of each
other's most important trading partners after China joined the
World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. U.S. goods exported to
China have consistently been more remarkable than those imported
from China, with a $375.6 billion trade deficit between the two
nations in 2017 (Li & Tu, 2018).
Trade imbalances result when trading partners do not trade rela-
tively equally. In order to remain competitive, American companies will
have to cut costs if they cannot compete with cheaper Chinese goods.
In the United States, manufacturing jobs have declined by approxi-
mately 30% since 1998 (Brodeur, Gray, Islam, & Bhuiyan, 2021;
Kapustina, Lipková, Silin, & Drevalev, 2020). Because of this,
1998 and 2010 and recovered by about 7% through 2020.
At the start of the trade war, U.S. tariffs on China were 3.1%
(Li, Balistreri, & Zhang, 2020). By September 2018, the average tariffs
had risen to 12.0%, with new tariffs covering nearly half of bilateral
imports (Figure 1). In retaliation, the average tariff on imports from
the United States increased from 8% to 18.3% (Bown, 2021).
The trade deficit between the United States and China for 2020
was $310.8 billion, which is 9% smaller than 2019's deficit of $345.2
billion. As a result of U.S. exports to China totaling $124 billion and
China's imports totaling $435.5 billion, there is a trade deficit (Thanh,
Canh, & Doytch, 2020). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, China's
trade deficit with the United States was $315.1 billion in 2012. A total
of $376.3 billion was reached in 2015 and dropped to $346.8 billion
in 2016. In 2018, it reached $418.9 billion before falling to $345.2
billion in 2019. China's deficit with the United States dropped
to $310.8 billion at the end of 2020, the lowest level since 2011
(Moosa, Ramiah, Pham, & Watson, 2020; Wang, 2020).
As of 2019, China's exports of 10 specific labor-intensive indus-
tries totaled $571,24 billion, accounting for 34.51% of world trade for
these sectors based on the United Nation (UN) Comtrade database
(Charlton & Kostandini, 2021). In 2020, China's exports to the

Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 2022;1–9. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tie © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 1
2 COMMENTARY

FIGURE 1 Change of tariff. Source: Bown (2021) [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

United States will reach $133.02 billion, almost four times what they
were in 2000. Labor-intensive industries are expected to be imported
into the United States for $301.20 billion by 2020 (almost double the
amount imported in 2000). In contrast, the export proportion of the
labor-intensive industry has declined from 36.38% in 2000 to 22.96%
in 2019 (Lipai, Lingling, Wenling, & Junshan, 2021).
Vietnam and China rely heavily on labor-intensive industries to
create and maintain jobs. On the contrary, when the U.S.-China
trade war was in full swing, Vietnam (as a developing country)
increased exports from the labor-intensive industry. From 1991 to
2020, Vietnam experienced an average annual growth of 6.92%
(Goulard, 2020). Since Vietnam's exports are influenced by
purchasing power from other countries, it has enjoyed growth over
the last 35 years due to liberalization. Over the past 20 years,
Vietnamese exports to the United States have increased from US
$185.54 million in 2000 to US$37.38 billion in 2020, ranking second
among labor-intensive industry exports after 2017 in comparison to
China (Jong, 2022), which has expanded industrial production and is
less dependent on exports. According to Nomura, a Japanese invest-
ment bank, Vietnam's economy has been boosted by almost 8% due
to the shift in production caused by the U.S.-China trade war. At its
current growth rate, Vietnam's GDP is expected to surpass
Singapore's by 2029, according to a report by the Development
Bank of Singapore (Ha & Phuc, 2019).
COMMENTARY
Hence, the paper intends to determine the future of Vietnam's
labor-intensive industry due to the U.S.-China trade war. In order to
assess whether Vietnam can overtake China's position as the world's
largest manufacturer, this paper examines UN Comtrade's export
performance statistics of 10 specific labor-intensive industries serving
the U.S. market between 2000 and 2020.
2 | LITERATURE REVIEW
Compared to capital-intensive goods, industries that require a high
labor-to-capital ratio require a lower ratio of labor to capital
(Song, 2021). The demographic dividend has contributed substantially
to the economic growth of a country (Peterson, 2017). Labor-
intensive industry exports grew at the fastest rate in the world,
making China the fastest-growing economy (Li, Lee, Liu, &
Wang, 2019b; Li, Liu, & Qian, 2019a). However, the Lewis Turning
Point will occur between 2020 and 2025 in China (Cai, 2021; Rozelle,
Xia, Friesen, Vanderjack, & Cohen, 2020; Wang, Fidrmuc, Luo, &
Luo, 2020b; Wang, Viet, Ho, Nguyen, & Nguyen, 2020a). China may
be entering a new phase of economic development due to structural-
demographic changes and the household registration system (Ma,
Long, Tu, Zhang, & Zheng, 2020). China introduced its Made in China
2025 strategy in 2015 to upgrade technology comprehensively.
Manufacturing relocations were pushed by cost hikes and industrial
restructuring. There has been some debate regarding whether China's
labor-intensive industries will lose their competitiveness internation-
ally and whether Vietnam will overtake China's lead in labor-intensive
industry exports (Bekkevold, 2020).
As a result of Vietnam's high population growth and healthy
population structure, the country has made significant progress in
economics, and many researchers have compared Vietnam with China
in terms of the development of labor-intensive industries (Vo &
Ha, 2021). There has been high competition between Vietnam and
other countries for labor-intensive industries (Dao, 2022). Deshmukh
(2021) and Nordhaug (2020) found Vietnam to be an effective com-
petitor in the garment industry, where China dominated the market.
In his study of six ASEAN countries plus China, Japan, and Korea,
Daly, Das, and Yeoh (2020) found that China and Vietnam are very
competitive internationally in terms of product quality thanks to their
price advantage.
Using the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (RCA) at differ-
ent levels, such as region, country, industry segment, and industry
segment link level. Yan, Qu, Ding, and Zhan (2021) discovered that
China enjoys competitive advantages in areas with extraordinary
industry capabilities due to the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). The
BRI sparked increasing trade, investment, and infrastructure links
between China and the associated countries (Fardella & Prodi, 2017).
In addition to helping China's trade recovery, the BRI also allows BRI
countries access to China's direct investment, which will facilitate
their development and/or upgrade of their infrastructure and enables
China to expand its exports (Li, Lee, et al., 2019b; Li, Liu, &
Qian, 2019a). China's realistic export opportunities (REOs) are spread
3
across 79 BRI countries, accounting for 42.5% of the country's total
global export potential and 26.9% of China's untapped potential
globally. The BRI nations Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic
collectively account for 17.9% of the region's untapped potential, offer-
ing a direct route into the EU (Cameron, Cuyvers, Fu, & Viviers, 2021).
Ma, Liu, and Ge (2017) assessed the competitiveness of China
and Vietnam based on Relative Trade Advantages (RTAs) covering
trade data from 2005 to 2014 and found that Vietnam was more
competitive in apparel, clothing, and footwear than China. The
U.S.-China trade war opened up market opportunities for other
countries, especially Vietnam, because of its low labor costs and
flexible production capacity (Itakura, 2020; Tien & Anh, 2019; Tien,
Vu, Dung, Doan, & Duc, 2019; Wang, 2020). In 2020, the U.S. exports
to Vietnam were approximately US$10 billion, a slight decrease from
US$10.9 in 2019 and an increase of 270% from 2010. Electrical
machinery, cotton, aircraft, plastic, and machinery products dominated
the list of U.S. goods that were exported more. As a result of the
trade war between the United States and China, many U.S. companies
are interested in Vietnam's potential as a trading partner. 61.54% of
U.S. firms are considering shifting operations from China to Vietnam,
making Vietnam the most frequently cited alternative among all ASEAN
countries, according to the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and
East Asia (ERIA) in 2020 (Pan et al., 2021).
Since the end of the Vietnam War, the United States has been
the largest market for Vietnam's exports (Siracusa & Nguyen, 2019).
On the other hand, China has been the largest source of imports
from Vietnam (except in 2018, when China surpassed South Korea
in imports) (Sohn, 2019). The United States and China dominate
Vietnam's export earnings and import bills as of December 2018.
With nearly US$34 billion in trade surplus with the United States in
2018, Vietnam has a significant trade surplus with the country
(Van & Trung, 2021).
Despite some researchers believing Vietnam's competitiveness is
gradually increasing, many remain convinced that China's absolute
advantage cannot be overtaken by Vietnam anytime soon. Hanson
(2021) found that with less than 8% of world exports in labor-
intensive industries, Vietnam would not be a likely successor to China.
Moreover, Vietnam is heavily dependent on Chinese raw materials
and equipment for manufacturing, which is a problem for its exports
(Huong & Shah, 2021). In the labor-intensive textile and capital-
intensive electronics industries, Vietnam and China are falling behind
in technical development (Chiu, Lin, & Yang, 2019). Vietnamese
researchers examined the international competitiveness of Vietnam's
garment and textile industries and concluded that Vietnam was less
competitive than China in the four components of the Generalized
Double Diamond Model analysis (factor conditions; demand
conditions; related and supporting industries; and company strategy,
structure, and competitive environment) (Gautam & Lal, 2020; Guan,
Xu, Jiang, & Jiang, 2018; Vu & Pham, 2016).
Several of the aforementioned papers compare competitiveness
between China and Vietnam for a specific sector or a few industries
with high labor intensity. The literature lacks situational analysis to
compare the competitive advantage of Vietnam's performance in
4 COMMENTARY

labor-intensive industries due to the U.S.-China trade war. The exist- TABLE 1 10 labor-intensive industries
ing literature raised questions regarding export performance in Two-digit SITC codes and descriptions
particular.
65 Textile yarn and fabric
81 Sanitary, plumbing, heating, lighting fixtures and fittings
82 Furniture and parts
3 | S I T U A T I O N A L A N A L Y S E S OF
83 Travel goods, handbags, and similar containers
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF VIETNAM
84 Articles of apparel and clothing accessories
L A B O R - I N T E N S I V E I N D U ST R Y
85 Footwear

3.1 | Comparison of Vietnam and China 785 Cycles, scooters, and invalid carriages
893 Articles of plastic materials
In 2008, Vietnam joined the WTO, and it went on to sign FTAs with 894 Baby carriages, toys, games, and sporting goods
the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, South Korea, 895 Office and stationary supplies
China, India, Australia, and others, as well as joining the ASEAN+1
Source: UN Trade Statistics (UNTS, 2021).
FTAs, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and
the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership (CPTPP) (Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, & Nguyen, 2020). As TABLE 2 The U.S. Tariffs on China and Vietnam from 2015
to 2019
a result of Vietnam's extensive FTA network, its export competitive-
ness improved, and FDI grew. China has signed a relatively small Simple average tariff
number of FTAs (Müller & Seabra, 2019). While China strives to sign
Year Vietnam China
FTAs with more countries, it is evident that with the prevalence of
2015 5.868 5.702
trade protection, it is not easy to expedite such negotiations.
2016 5.743 5.706
Additionally, Vietnam's population has increased by 25.72% over
2017 5.674 5.551
the last two decades, from 77.63 million in 2000 to 97.6 million
2018 5.839 5.785
(Baum, 2020). While China's population grew from 1.26 billion in
2000 to 1.41 billion in 2020, its growth rate was only 12.24% during 2019 5.794 5.774

the same period (Ren, 2020). In 2000, China's labor force participation
was 82.58%, but in 2019, it fell to 75.88%, while Vietnam's increased
from 81.9% to 83.09% (Nguyen, 2021). Furthermore, foreign direct
investment (FDI) by labor-intensive industries companies can still be
attracted to Vietnam due to its low labor costs (Ta, Le, Nguyen,
Phan, & Do, 2020). From 2010 to 2019, China's minimum monthly
wage went from 1,120 Yuan (US$172) to 2,480 Yuan (US$382) and
remained unchanged through 2021—an increase of 121.43% during
the previous decade. Vietnam's minimum wage increased from US$58
per month in 2010 to US$192 in 2020, but it remains half the
minimum wage in China. The minimum wage in China is far above the
monthly wage for manufacturing industries in urban areas. Production
costs have increased due to the continuous wage increase in China
(Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, & Tran, 2021).
China and the United States are engaged in a trade war that
Vietnam can benefit from Yu (2020). The trade war has given
Vietnam the most advantage of growing its economy. On the con-
trary, China's trade costs have risen significantly during the wake of
the U.S.-China trade war (Goulard, 2020). With anti-dumping duties,
the United States increased the average tariff on China from 3.1% to
8.4% in January 2018. As a result of several additional tariffs
(10%, 25%, 15%, and 7.5% for different categories of goods), by
the end of 2020, China's average tariff rate on U.S. exports to
China increased to 26.7%. By January 2021, the average tariff on
U.S. goods to China had dropped 18.8% (Bown, 2021).
Despite differences in definition, labor-intensive products tend to
converge in general. Pavitt (1984) categorized technical levels of
Source: World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) (2021).
products into labor-intensive, scale-intensive, and resource-intensive
based on internationally accepted standard classifications. Using SITC
three-digit products, Lall (2000) categorized them into resource-
based, low-tech, medium-tech, and high-tech products. Using the
world input–output table (WIOT), Dietzenbacher, Los, Stehrer,
Timmer, and De Vries (2013) classified textiles, apparel, and leather as
labor-intensive, wood, straw, and plaiting materials as labor-intensive,
furniture and other manufacturing as labor-intensive, and machinery
and equipment repair and installation as labor-intensive. According
to Hanson (2017), SITC 65, SITC 81 to 85, SITC 785, and SITC
893 to 895 are among 10 labor-intensive industries. n order to
analyze China and Vietnam's export performance, this paper uses
Hanson's 10 sectors as LISs, which can be obtained easily from the
UN Comtrade database. Table 1 provides details.
The tariff rates for 10 labor-intensive industries used by
the United States and Vietnam before the U.S.-China trade war
were similar (Hanson, 2021; Nugroho, Irawan, & Amaliah, 2021).
China's competitiveness reduction resulted from the additional
tariffs that increased export costs. A table listing all U.S. tariffs
imposed on Vietnam and China from 2015 to 2019 can be found
in Table 2 (WITS, 2021). In 2018 and 2019, the U.S. asserted
additional tariffs against Chinese exports. As a result, China has
suffered from standard and adverse competitive effects for the last
few years.
COMMENTARY 5

F I G U R E 2 China's and China's share of world Vietnam's share of world

Vietnam's labor-intensive industry
Linear (China's share of world) Linear (Vietnam's share of world)
exports in 10 sectors [Color figure
can be viewed at 45.00% y = 0.0128x - 25.395
R² = 0.8789
wileyonlinelibrary.com] 40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00% y = 0.0021x - 4.1185
R² = 0.9492
5.00%
0.00%
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

products exported worldwide by China and Vietnam. The regression

analysis shows that Vietnam's labor-intensive industry is steadily
growing (Y = 0.0021x 4.1185 with R2 = 0.9492) whereas Chinese
labor-intensive industry is gradually declining (Y = 0.0128x 25.395
with R2 = 0.8789).

3.2 | Comparison of Vietnam and other countries

F I G U R E 3 Destination of Vietnam's Export in 2019. Source: OEC
[Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
By 2019, China's labor-intensive goods manufacturing proportion is
expected to drop to 22.86% from 36.38% in 2000. Vietnamese exports
reached their highest point in 2000, reaching 37.32% in 2003, then sta-
bilized at around 30%, declining to 29.26% in 2019 (Hanson, 2021).
Figure 2 shows the trend in the shares of labor-intensive industry
Because of the trade war between the United States and China, the
Southeast Asian nation's economy has grown by almost 18%
(Hanson, 2021). Vietnam, however, has benefited most from the
trade friction between the United States and China. Vietnam was
among the few winners early in the U.S.-China trade war. Vietnam's
labor-intensive industry exports depend heavily on the U.S. market.
Vietnam was the second biggest exporter of labor-intensive products
to the United States in 2017, after China (Bekkevold, 2020).
According to OEC (2021), Figure 3 indicates that in 2019, the top
exports of Vietnam are Broadcasting Equipment ($42.3B), Telephones
($18.2B), Integrated Circuits ($15.5B), Textile Footwear ($10.6B), and
Leather Footwear ($6.43B), exporting mostly to United States
($63.7B), China ($40.3B), Japan ($21.2B), South Korea ($20.3B), and
Germany ($8.22B).
In Asia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia have witnessed sig-
nificant increases in their global shares of labor-intensive exports
in the last few years, but others have not (Anwar, 2021; Neak &
Sok, 2021). Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam exported 13.3% of labor-intensive
manufactured goods in 2018, compared to 7.2% in 2001 and 3.4% in
1984 (Hanson, 2021). The group includes the four large low-income
economies in South Asia that are responsible for most of the region's
economic output and the lower-income economies of Southeast Asia.
Despite its size, India has only managed to increase its global
export share by more than half a percentage point since 2000
(Misra & Choudhry, 2020); Pakistan's share has remained constant for
the last 35 years (Keeryo, Mumtaz, & Lakhan, 2020); and Indonesia's
share has fallen since 2000 (Wangke, 2020). In contrast, Myanmar
6 COMMENTARY

F I G U R E 4 Share of world exports in labor-intensive products ((a) selected Asian countries; (b). selected other countries). Source: Hanson
[Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

350 F I G U R E 5 The trends in

y = 7.6145x - 15063 U.S. imports from 10 labor-
300
R² = 0.9213 intensive industry in China,
250
y = 4.8929x - 9722.9 Vietnam, and the world (in US$
200 billions) [Color figure can be
R² = 0.8166
150 viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
100
y = 1.7347x - 3473.1
50 R² = 0.9453
0
-50 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

China Vietnam World

Linear (China) Linear (Vietnam) Linear (World)

and Sri Lanka are relatively small players on the global stage
(Wijayasiri & Wijesinha, 2021). Having relatively low average incomes
indicates that these countries have relatively large supplies of unedu-
cated labor, contributing to their comparative advantage in labor-
intensive production. Figure 4 indicates that based on the top
10 labor-intensive sectors, Vietnam is the top exporting country
among 8 Asian countries that exported these goods among the top
Figure 5 demonstrates the trend in the shares of labor-intensive
industry products exported by China, Vietnam, and the world. The regres-
sion analysis displays that Vietnam labor-intensive industry is steadily
growing (Y = 1.7347x 3,473.1 with R2 = 0.9453) whereas the labor-
intensive industry of China (Y = 4.8929x 9,722.9 with R2 = 0.8166)
and the world are gradually declining (Y = 7.6145x 15,063 with
R = 0.9213).
2

14 emerging economies in 2018, shown together with their relative

comparative advantage.
The U.S.-China trade war resulted in a shift in production,
according to Goulard (2020). As illustrated in Figure 5, China's
labor-intensive industry exports to the United States have almost
matched the global export trend, except that the U.S.-China trade
war led to a sharp decline in exports. Nevertheless, Vietnam's
exports to the United States from labor-intensive industries are
steadily growing. Vietnam gains the most from trade diversion,
which gains 7.9% of its GDP since trade diversion consists primar-
ily of additional U.S. imports. Chile, Malaysia, and Argentina are
the following three top importers. Their trade diversion comes
mainly from China. The U.S. import substitution benefitted third-
party countries more than the China import substitution (Menon &
Melendez, 2021).
4 | CONC LU SION
This paper focuses on the competitiveness effect as the most crucial
reason for Vietnam's high export performance and why Vietnam could
replace China in some of the 10 sectors studied. China's competitive-
ness was negatively affected for the final two periods, while
Vietnam's competitive advantage increased. In all periods except
2015–2020, China had a more extensive scale effect than Vietnam.
Changing demand for imports from the United States is a significant
factor contributing to export fluctuations between the two countries,
in which growth effects dominate over product structure effects.
Since the United States has continued to fight anti-China foreign pol-
icy, China's exports to the United States have declined since the
COMMENTARY
study's final decade. In contrast, Vietnam's exports to the
United States have been increasing.
Export fluctuations for the two countries have been primarily
driven by U.S. demand for imports, where the growth effect has
far outweighed the product structure effect. For all periods except
2015–2020, China's scale effect was higher than Vietnam's. The scale
effect determines China's export status. Due to their competitiveness,
Vietnamese exports perform well. During the final two periods,
China's competitiveness weakened while Vietnam's increased. More-
over, many ASEAN countries, including Myanmar and Cambodia,
and many Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan, are at a low
stage of industrialization and are interested in attracting investments
(labor-intensive industries) to their countries.
CONF LICT OF IN TE RE ST
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
ORCID
Bablu Kumar Dhar https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8768-8634
Thanh Tiep Le https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2509-5910
Tina A. Coffelt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1926-6453
Jakhongir Shaturaev https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3859-2526
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Dr. Bablu Kumar Dhar has been working as a faculty member and
a researcher in several universities in Bangladesh, China, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, and Thailand for the last 15 years. His
keen research areas are Accounting, Human Resource Manage-
ment, Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustain-
ability, and Environmental Management.
Dr. Thanh Tiep Le holds a Ph.D. degree in Business Administra-
tion. Currently he is also lecturer and researcher at Ho Chi Minh
City University of Economics and Finance (UEF). He is a visiting
lecturer at University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH). His
major research are including Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR), Corporate Governance, Competitive Advantage, Circular
Economy, Corporate Sustainability, Quality Management, Opera-
tion Management, and Supply Chain Management. He has pub-
lished several research papers in the prestigious journals such as
Cogent Business & Management, Transnational Corporations Review,
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Corporate
Governance, Benchmarking: An International Journal, International
COMMENTARY 9

Journal of Emerging Markets, Management Decision, International Jakhongir Shaturaev is working as a Coordinator of the International
Journal of Logistics Management, Economic Analysis & Policy, Joint Degree Program and Assistant Professor at Tashkent State Uni-
Resources Policy, Journal of Cleaner Production. versity of Economics. He focuses on Social Science, Project
Management, Digital Economics, and Finance as his research interests.
Dr. Tina A. Coffelt (Ph.D. University of Missouri-Columbia) is an
associate professor in the Department of English at Iowa State
University. She specializes in business and interpersonal commu-
nication with research appearing in Business and Professional
How to cite this article: Dhar, B. K., Tiep Le, T., Coffelt, T. A.,
Communication Quarterly, Communication Studies, and Commu-
& Shaturaev, J. (2022). U.S.-China trade war and competitive
nication Yearbook, among others. She was a Fulbright Scholar to
advantage of Vietnam. Thunderbird International Business
Uzbekistan in 2021.
Review, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22325