March 31, 2018
This Is How Trump Can Successfully Navigate the China Trade Trap
Foreign-policy experts and America’s allies have roundly criticized President Trump’s new tariffs and investment restrictions as a potential opening salvo in a global trade war. But at least rhetorically, the Trump administration argues that its goal is not simply to protect American industries from foreign competition. Rather, the Trump administration argues that it wants to use the tariffs and investment restrictions as part of a strategy to finally pry open China to U.S. business.
The Trump administration is correct about the need for a tougher approach to China’s unfair trade practices. Despite a handful of positive macroeconomic reforms, under President Xi Jinping the general trend has been to increase the Chinese state’s role business. For example, over the past year China has pressed U.S. and European businesses operating joint ventures in China to give the Chinese Communist Party cells a formal role in corporate decisionmaking, which could turn companies into agents of Chinese policy. China’s “Made in China 2025” national development strategy, meanwhile, is combining billions of dollars in subsidies, favorable regulations, restrictions on foreign access to the Chinese market, and other policies to promote the explicit goal of Chinese companies dominating ten global industries, including information technology, energy-efficient vehicles, and aviation, by 2025. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last week issued a report finding that Chinese requirements forcing U.S. firms to transfer technology to China and outright theft cost the United States billions of dollars a year.
Read the full op-ed on National Interest.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Cryptocurrency is not only a financial asset to steal and launder, but also a lucrative tool to help fund global espionage and recruit foreign agents....
By Jason Bartlett
-
Video
The US is more aggressively tracking North Korea's illegal cyber activities. The U.S. government added four cryptocurrency wallets linked to the North Korean hacking group Laz...
By Jason Bartlett
-
Podcast
Digital technology is expanding rapidly and high demand for these products is putting enormous demands on global supply chains. One area that has exhibited major bottlenecks i...
By Emily Kilcrease
-
Video
Edward Fishman joins Shepard Smith to discuss today's prisoner swap between the United States and Russia, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Watch the full interview from CNBC....
By Edward Fishman