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Trade war among the nations dates back mainly to the nineteenth century. Some of the trade wars may be cited as (i) The First and Second Opium War Empire between 1839 and 1842; (ii) The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, 1930 signed by US President Herbert Hoover; (iii) Chicken wars in the early 1960s; (iv) The US–Japan automobile trade war in the 1980s; (v) 1985 Pasta War between America under the Regan Administration of United States and Europe; (vi) The Banana wars. However, trade becomes more intense in the present century with the increase of the economic trade instruments. Under the Obama Administration, currency war and tariff war both became strong between the United States and China with intense effect over the globe. After the Obama regime, came Donald John Trump with a number of controversial (aggressive) trade protectionism plans saying thereby “China’s accession to the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest jobs theft in history” and “Trillions of our dollars and millions of our jobs flowed overseas as a result.” Even during the COVID-19 period in the 2020s, threats and counter-threats have been on the ascend. It is in this backdrop the present chapter mainly traces the history of trade wars in the twenty-first century, touching upon the nineteenth and twentieth century trade battles.

The chapter deals with China-Pakistan economic relations under China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), which is considered to be a flagship corridor under the Chinese ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI), also known as ‘One Belt One Road’ or ‘New Silk Road’. COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the composition of the world economy. Now BRI has become even more important for China's economic strategy to sustain its long-term growth. The authors investigate CPEC to be Beijing's most ambitious project so far and mark, that despite possible concerns and challenges, CPEC will succeed. The authors identify the advantages and benefits that both Pakistan and China will gain. Further promoting of ‘westward’ strategy, which facilitates the economic and social development of Western China, boost in the export of capital, technology, production capacity is considered to give a new impulse of Chinese economic development. Rise in industrial potential, stimulating socio-economic development, improvement of population well-being, as well as maintenance of internal stability are among Pakistan's benefits from CPEC.

The chapter identifies the short- and long-term effects of the COVID-19 on implementing CPEC, as well.

Of late, the issue which has attracted the highest attention in the global scenario is the US–China trade relation, in particular the tariff war. The biggest nations in the world are in war with each other in matters related to trade since 2018. In the first quarter, the United States imposed a tariff which affected many countries like Canada, the EU, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and, in developing Asia, India and the People’s Republic of China. This has resulted in a significant dampening of global output growth and growth in emerging nations of Asia. The present chapter seeks to investigate into the historical evidences of trade wars between the United States and China, major reasons responsible for this conflict and tries to figure out the impact of this conflict on fundamental macro variables using secondary time-series data primarily on selected Asian economies including India. The author uses the multiple regression technique to find to what extent changes in the independent variables are responsible in explaining the changes in the dependent variable for both China and the United States. The empirical results clearly show that in the case of China and the United States, an increase in weighted tariff rates (WTR) will lead to a significant decrease in the trade GDP ratio (TGR), whereas in the case of both these countries, Purchasing Power Parity GNI (PPPGNI) is positively and significantly associated in determining TGR. In the case of India, a decrease in WTR is expected to lead to a rise in TGR and it is significant. In case of Vietnam, PPPGNI is significant, but not WTR. In the case of Singapore, neither of the two independent variables is significant.

Of late, the ongoing trade war between the two most powerful economies of the world – United States and China – has placed both the countries on a horrid front, breaking the world’s most important bilateral relationship of the twenty-first century. Their failure to reach a concrete agreement on mutual benefit on matters related to growing hefty amount of China’s current account surplus of balance of payments (BoP) and endangering United States to create jobs on its side, China’s use of illegal and unfair methods to acquire rights on intellectual property and US technology at an effectively discounted price; and also the concern that China by hook or by crook seeks to weaken the US economy has made matters worse. It is in this context the chapter analyzes the trade tensions between them and the context under which it came to the fore and with what outcomes. The analysis recommends interventions of the global leaders to mitigate the issues for the betterment of the world economy.

Introduction: Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a deciding factor in the insurance industry’s growth in any nation. Besides, similar socioeconomic conditions, some countries tend to attract more FDI inflows. This chapter focuses on exploring the FDI in the insurance industry in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS).

Purpose: The chapter aims to explore the current situation of FDI in the insurance industry in BRICS member nations and uncover the factors that have led to higher foreign investments in some countries.

Methodology: Using descriptive and comparative approaches, this chapter explains the FDI scenario in the insurance sector of BRICS nations.

Findings: Based on a comparative analysis, the authors observed that deregulation, increased foreign engagement, and adoption of innovative technology and distribution methods are some avenues that could be worked upon to improve FDIs in the Indian insurance sector.