08/26/2019
China's View on the Trade War with the United States
Always important to understand what the other side is saying, and with regards to the U.S.-China trade war, the following is from an official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Editorial / Global Times, Aug. 25, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered U.S. companies to “immediately start looking for an alternative to China” on Twitter on Friday. The tweet shocked the U.S. business community and caused strong dissatisfaction. On Sunday, Trump said he had “no plans right now” to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to force businesses to leave China. “Actually we’re getting along very well with China right now. We’re talking,” the New York Times on Sunday quoted him as saying.
The U.S. government has been constantly raising contradictory voices on the trade war and China-U.S. relations. Thanks to reckless U.S. moves, the trade war has continuously escalated between the two sides. The U.S. backed off its threat to order companies out of China, yet the worsening trend in Beijing-Washington ties has not changed.
The latest U.S. threat, instead of having a new impact on China, has only brought more chaos to the U.S. itself. The international community has also given a very negative evaluation of the U.S. attitude.
China was not affected by Trump’s remarks because Beijing has already made full psychological preparations for further deterioration of the trade war and has been making various material preparations to cope with the situation. China has a huge market. Domestic demand has long been the biggest driving force for the country’s economic development. China’s political system is also at an advantage to maintain the country’s stable economy in the face of U.S. hysteria.
China also has enough confidence in the attractiveness of the Chinese market, which, for multinational companies from whichever country, is too big and too important. China’s unique advantage as a manufacturing hub is irreplaceable, while the purchasing power of the Chinese market is a perfect match for the manufacturing industry in China. If U.S. companies move their factories out of China, they will only surrender their valuable market submissively to their competitors and suffer the most losses.
The connection between Chinese and U.S. economists is gradually weakening. If the trend continues for a long time, the world’s production pattern will be reshaped. Washington must have let its imagination run riot if it wishes to remain intact while China suffers huge losses during the process.
In today’s world of production patterns, no country can marginalize China anymore. Whichever country forcibly cuts economic ties with China will only harm itself. Such a move will not at all become a bargaining chip for external forces to exert pressure on China.
After Trump tweeted, he received almost one-sided opposition and doubts, which showed how inappropriate was his unrealistic proposal.
The U.S. has been ceaselessly making statements on the trade war. China should not be impacted by any of them. As long as China’s comprehensive technological and industrial capabilities continue to improve, and its market continues to expand, whoever wants to impose sanctions against China economically will suffer losses.
China should relax. Regardless of what Washington says, Beijing must hold on to further boosting its opening-up and not proactively elbow out U.S. companies. In this way, no country can bring China to its knees and no country can make China lose focus.
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Brian Trumbore
