The way it is being mentioned, people are supposed to believe that China is aggressively undermining the US economy, pretty much raping it, and we are just helpless in the face of it for so long. The main argument is the trade deficit. 1. They are selling us more than we are selling them. 2. Others are that they are making away all our jobs. 3. The runner up is that they are actually stealing all our economic secrets and innovations and using them against us. But the problem is that for most of these arguments, China did absolutely nothing wrong. China did not hold a gun to America's head and say buy all of my crap or die. They did not hold a gun to the United States and say give me all your manufacturing contracts and shift you industry overseas or die. What people fail to realize is that the US business and industry leaders willingly bought cheap products from China because they were cheap. They weren't dumped in the US by a Chinese Death Station orbiting in space, or smuggled here by Chinese secret agents, they were bought by US business and industry personnel who thought paying $1 for a tire was better than paying $5. The fault, if there is any fault, goes to the US industrial stratum for undermining the American people. But hey, that's free business. What are you complaining about? The same goes for the jobs, and it's not just to China, but to India and Mexico. Take Ford, for example. They were outsourcing to Mexico for a long time. Is Mexico the enemy? No, the people outsourcing the jobs are the enemy. They basically said "I'm not going to pay these expensive ass American's whining about equal pay, pensions, and rights, when I can pay Mexicans and Chinese people next to nothing." The business and industry taxes and laws in the US definitely have a part to play in businesses looking overseas for jobs, but the truth is that without those laws, you will likely come out to be the loser. The last one is one I can concede to. Theft of technology and patents is certainly a reality, but...it's so old and over-practiced it doesn't deserve to be mentioned. Theft and piracy of trade secrets, patents, and technology is high business 101. Take McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. When one of them comes out with something, it's duplicate automatically appears in the other three, merely dressed up as something different. Theft? Most certainly, but it's how the business works. Harry Potter is a phenomenal success. Many other movies come out that mimic Harry Potter and attempt to rack in on the boy wizard franchise. Theft? Yes, as far as an idea can be theft, but business as usual. When the Ipod came out, MP3's were not much further behind. Actually, the IPOD was just an improved MP3. Theft? It gets shady at that point, but you can see where I'm going. Whining about theft in the business word will not likely boost your sales and one could argue that it is one of the basic tenants of capitalism. You put out something, someone puts out something better, and under the rule of competition, you either successfully compete or sink. China, Mexico, India, South America...that's what they all have done. They offer low cost labor and low cost merchandise. Are they guilty of using their own people that way? Yes. But did that stop US industry, business, and markets from taking them up on their offer...one could actually argue it was even more of an appeal, that way. And yet, people in he US like to glorify the big businessman as "job creators". You ever feel like someone is laughing at you? Guess who? There isn't a trade war with China, and if there was, it came about from a long standing trade agreement that the US government is now forced to acknowledge proved detrimental to the US economy.
Good points. In the aftermath of the "bogus trade war", it's better for the US to end up with an upside-down cake than an upside-down cup of coffee. At least it has something left to chew over.
Granny says China `bout to eat our lunch... China overtaking US as global trader Dec 2,`12 -- Shin Cheol-soo no longer sees his future in the United States.
Wow, I totally forgot about this post. This is definitely true, but you can hardly blame competitors- in the sense of "unfair gameplay". One of the areas China has become a strong contender in is Africa and the reason why is because Africa had become very disenchanted with American business and aid which was largely exploitative, if not destructive, but which, at times, it had no real alternative to accepting. China's workers and contractors began to come in and offer the same services offered by the US for much, much cheaper prices and the construction times were much more concise. If there is a general shift to China in the African continent, it is completely understandable.
