UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Trump eyes deal as China gauges U.S. ‘decline’
Q1. In the context of the 2025 US trade measures challenged by China at the WTO, the term 'reciprocal tariffs' refers to which one of the following?
- A. Universal plus country-specific additional import duties imposed by the US, calibrated to mirror the trade barriers of partner countries
- B. Tariffs mutually and equally reduced by both parties under the WTO's most-favoured-nation principle
- C. Duties China levied on US rare-earth and critical-mineral exports in retaliation
- D. Purchase commitments agreed under the January 2020 Phase-1 trade deal
Q2. Under the WTO dispute settlement system, how many members make up the permanent Appellate Body from which each individual appeal is heard by three?
Q3. After the US ended formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, which body was established to conduct America's unofficial relations with Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act?
- A. The American Institute in Taiwan
- B. The US Embassy in Taipei
- C. The State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
- D. The Office of the US Trade Representative
Q4. In which document did the United States first acknowledge the 'one-China' principle that Taiwan is a part of China?
- A. The Shanghai Communiqué of 1972
- B. The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979
- C. The Six Assurances of 1982
- D. The normalization communiqué of 1979
Q5. The US semiconductor export controls announced on 7 October 2022 are best described as which one of the following?
- A. Sweeping controls cutting China off from advanced computing chips and chipmaking equipment made anywhere with US tools, requiring Commerce Department permission
- B. A complete ban on all electronics trade between the US and China
- C. Additional import tariffs levied on Chinese-made semiconductors entering the US
- D. Federal subsidies granted to US chip fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act
Q6. Which US federal department administers the October 2022 export controls restricting China's access to advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment?
- A. The Department of Commerce
- B. The Department of the Treasury
- C. The Department of State
- D. The Office of the US Trade Representative
Q7. In the history of US–China relations, 'normalization' — effective 1 January 1979 — refers to which one of the following?
- A. The US ending diplomatic relations with Taiwan and granting formal diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China
- B. China's accession to the World Trade Organization
- C. President Nixon's first visit to Beijing
- D. The US Congress passing the Taiwan Relations Act
Q8. The Quad, central to India's Indo-Pacific strategy amid US–China rivalry, brings together how many member countries?