Internationalization in the period of Trump’s America First foreign policy

Since the end of World War II, the United States has played a leading role in shaping the global economic system. The election of Donald Trump, however, represented a significant shift in US trade policy. On Inauguration Day the U.S. international trade policy environment had turned away from globalization and its main trading partners (China, Japan, Mexico, and European countries), raising concerns around the world. On January 23, 2017, Trump pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement that had been aimed at boosting trade and reducing thousands of tariffs among 12 nations. According to an official White House statement, the Trump administration, through the America First foreign policy, aimed at focusing on American interests and national security, as well as at putting American workers and businesses first when it comes to trade. That is why Trump’s view of trade and international expansion was quite controversial. When it comes to Trump’s tweet-based policy, when some CEOs expressed doubts about Trump’s plans on international trade, the tweets resulted in a decline of stock market value as well as in a decline in the volume of shares traded. Moreover, after the exit from TPP, companies faced the problem of higher tariffs. Accordingly, the thesis aims to analyze the consequences of protectionist measures on American companies because of the US international trade policy environment. To develop a practical part, which will be based on existing theories and hypotheses described in the theoretical part, the author will focus on the American company Harley-Davidson which has an opportunity to go international and expand its market, but there is pressure from the government. The thesis starts by providing information about U.S. trade policy and U.S. protectionism under Trump, including the consequences of America's First foreign policy and the U.S withdrawal from the TPP. Next, the author describes the process of internationalization, taking into account traditional theories of internationalization, internationalization models, and entry modes. Finally, it provides a case study of Harley-Davidson by examining the situation with a help of SWOT analysis and provides a recommendation regarding international expansion.