Tonghua Li

Research

Title of research:

The High Politics of Trade: Discourse, Institutions, and International Realignments in the Trump Era

Brief overview of research topic:

I am currently doing a PhD in Politics, supervised by Professor Tony Heron and Dr Tomaz Fares. My research examines how contemporary geopolitical dynamics and institutional configurations shape the politics of international trade, using US agricultural trade policy as the principal empirical case. More broadly, I analyse the role of discourse, institutional constraints, and evolving power structures within a changing global order.

Funding

CSC(China Scholarship Council)- University of York joint-funded PhD Scholarship

Research interests

International political economy of Trade, Political Narratives, U.S.–China relations, Food regime analysis

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Master of Science in International Relations (Distinction), University of Glasgow, UK
• Bachelor of Management in Agricultural & Forestry Economics Management, Yunnan Agricultural University (Co-operation Programme with New Zealand Lincoln University), China and New Zealand

Teaching

Seminar- Introduction to Comparative Politics (POL00013C) 2024-2025 

Seminar- York Policy Lab (POL00016C) 2024-2025 

Presentations

• Li, T. (2025) ‘The Political Economy of Food Trade in the US-China Trade Dispute: Soybean and Biofuels Policy During Trump's First Term’, PPE Society London Annual Conference, King’s College London, July.
• Li, T. (2025) ‘Power, Trade and Environmental Governance: The Water Politics of Transnational Governance in the Mekong River Basin’, Green Trade Lab Annual Workshop, University of York, July.
• Li, T. (2025) ‘The Political Economy of Food Trade in the US-China Trade Dispute: Soybean and Biofuels Policy During Trump's First Term’, WRDTP Annual Conference 2025, University of Sheffield, June.
• Li, T. (2025) ‘The US Political Economy under Trump's Economic Nationalism: Agricultural Trade, Biofuels and Green Visions’, DEG PGR Conference 2025, University of York, May.
• Li, T. (2024) ‘Food Security and Green Trade in the Shadow of Geopolitics – A Case Study of the US-China Trade War’, Green Trade Lab Annual Workshop, KU Leuven, Belgium, July.