Commentary: US trading policies must be equitable ( 2003-11-15 11:35) (China Daily)
The latest multi-billion-dollar contracts China has signed with US companies
are undoubtedly meant to lubricate Sino-US trade relations.
Yet, to render them into real win-win deals for bilateral economic ties, the
United States needs to refashion its trade approach with China.
A Chinese trade mission to Washington DC included the signing of a series of
contracts on Wednesday for several billion dollars worth of US-made planes,
aircraft engines, cars and auto parts.
It is the latest effort the Chinese side has made to boost US imports so as
to narrow the trade disparity between the two countries.
The tension over trade relations between China and the United States has
ratcheted up this year as the latter's trade deficit with China hit a new
record.
Growing domestic unemployment has led many US politicians to simplistically
put all the blame on China even though Chinese exports to the United States
account for only about 1 per cent of the US gross domestic product.
China's export have grown considerably lately, with the latest statistics
indicating exports rose 32.8 per cent to US$348.6 billion in the first 10 months
this year.
Such a surge largely resulted from the country's adherence to its comparative
advantage as a populous developing country as well as massive inflow of foreign
investment after China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.
However, one fact those critics of China's trade policy in the United States
have so far overlooked, if not ignored, is that more than half of China's
exports come from foreign-funded firms today.
Besides, those critics also failed to obtain a firm grasp of the broad
picture of China's trade situation.
China's big trade surpluses with the United States have largely been offset
by its deficit with countries like Japan.
Thanks to China's efforts to expand domestic demand in recent years and its
strengthening economic growth, the country has displayed an amazing appetite for
others' output.
Between January and October, the country's imports soared by 40.4 per cent
over the same period last year.
It is predicted that the country's trade surplus will shrink to around US$10
billion this year and reverse into a small deficit in 2004.
In fact, China has repeatedly voiced its desire to achieve a trade balance
this year and worked hard to this end.
For instance, in spite of the dent on its exporters' competitiveness, the
country announced last month it would cut the export tax rebate rate by an
average 3 percentage points starting next year.
The country fully understands that if its economy is to further integrate
with the large world market, it has to undergo painful industrial restructuring
to make most use of its competitive edges.
Nevertheless, as a major beneficiary of the worldwide free trade, the United
States now appears more and more reluctant to bear its due responsibilities.
A brief look at the mix of trade between China and the United State will
highlight the complementary nature of the two economies. As one of the
fastest-growing developing economies, China manufactures a large number of cheap
labour-intensive goods. Meanwhile, as the world's largest economy, the United
States yields numerous high-tech products.
But the United States refused to relax its export controls as a result of an
outdated Cold War mentality.
And more worrisome is the rising protectionism in the United States.
Instead of accelerating its industrial upgrades, the US Government has tried
to protect some domestic industries in disregard of WTO rules.
The final ruling the WTO issued early this week that the US Government
violated trade laws when it imposed extra tariffs on an array of steel imports
last year serves as a timely warning to the US protectionists.
The United States should not turn a tin ear to world opinion on its trade
policies. Protectionism would be harmful to both foreign exporters and its own
economy.
Unfortunately, the United States is now considering emergency import quotas
on Chinese textiles though its people as well as others are getting used to
enjoying these made-in-China products.
China's new purchases in the United States not only point to the tremendous
opportunities of Chinese market for US companies, but manifest the Chinese
Government's sincerity to reduce trade surpluses to further boost bilateral
trade relations.
The ball is now in the court of the US side, not as a leader but merely a
responsible member of the WTO. It is time for the United States to drop its
discriminative trade policies toward China.