This lesson will have students analyze connections among historical events and developments in the contemporary global issue of trade, specifically, trade between the United States and China.   Students will answer the compelling question; Do tariffs improve the lives of workers in a country and in an industry?Students will research the history of trade, specifically, the silk road.  How did this trade route affect the lives of ordinary people? How does the relationship over time between the United States and China affect trade? Students will create a similar learning experience building a lesson that connects the historical events and developments to a contemporary issue around globalization. Copy of the Lesson in a Google Doc.  Licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution License. 

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Low-income countries can benefit from participating in global value chains, or GVCs, which account for the majority of world trade Through cooperation with high-income economies, GVCs can provide local workers with better wages Deep trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties can stimulate this international economic cooperation In a new study, these policies are compared to help policy makers select the optimal tool for implementing GVCs Deep trade agreements regulate border measures and domestic policies while bilateral investment treaties protect investments in developing economies Both tools help forge backward linkages within GVCs But countries hoping to increase forward linkages and diversify must seek deep trade agreements The findings highlight that pro-trade and anti-trade stances can impact countries’ integration into GVCs Coordinating these production chains requires a nexus of trade, investment, and intellectual property Further research is needed to understand the imp.."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Trade issues occasionally dominate and are a continuing theme of the international scene: the global market, sweatshops, child labor, trade deficits, the euro, sanctions, tariffs, embargoes, and the EU, NAFTA, WTO, the seemingly endless alphabet of interest groups, treaties, organizations, and trade agreements. As a classroom topic, international trade has the great advantage of providing ready-made material for teachers wanting to engage student interest in current events. On the other hand, the complexity of the issues surrounding trade is daunting. While economic reasoning doesn't guarantee resolution of the issues, it is a powerful tool of critical thinking that brings clarity to the discussion of current events. The ability to determine comparative advantage through opportunity cost, the ability to identify incentives and predict resulting behavior, and the ability to use supply and demand analysis of particular labor and resource markets, help students to set aside the emotion of international trade issues and cut through the rhetoric of media reports.

On behalf of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), take this quiz to test your knowledge of Canada's government, economy, society, and geography.