Should We Trade With China?
Udumbara
Should the United States continue to trade with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), or should we decouple or de-risk from it? The PRC isn’t truly a country that belongs to the people, rather it has been controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1949.
Should we trade with a regime that utilizes forced labor and inadequate quality control standards to produce endless amounts of cheap products? Should we trade with a state that brazenly steals intellectual property from other nations and restricts the flow of global investments, goods, and students into China? Should we trade with an atheistic state that persecutes members of all religions and crushes any attempts at free speech or criticism of the regime?
The CCP sets up police stations in foreign countries to coerce overseas Chinese to remain loyal to the regime. It wants to bully its way around the globe with its one-sided trade and a Belt and Road initiative that gobbles up rare earth metals as it sets up developing nations for failure via debt traps. Where is the human reciprocity with the CCP?
Should we trade with a country that is undergoing a military buildup that surpasses what would be required for defensive purposes as it throws its weight around Asia? The CCP is attempting to take over control of ports in Africa and Latin America for commercial and military purposes. It also installs spyware technology in the loading/unloading cranes at scores of shipping ports.
Should we trade with a regime that utilizes unrestricted warfare (cyber, disinformation, economic, military, political) to achieve its objective of global supremacy? How can we ever deal in good faith with the CCP that seeks to infiltrate our military bases and strives to buy up land adjacent to these bases, yet won’t allow the United States to do the same in China?
How can we believe CCP mouthpieces as they attempt to spin lies about the West on social media platforms while praising a communist regime that voraciously takes yet gives little in return?
Balanced trade with the CCP regime is near impossible as it doesn’t adhere to fair trade as outlined in the WTO, and it fails to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, or secure sea lines of communication. The CCP remains export-driven with associated excess product dumping while it fails to meet the needs of its own citizens. It bypasses agreed-upon tariff rates, limits imports, and manipulates its currency in order to coerce other nations into trade deficits as it breaches every treaty in the book.
The list of devious behavior could go on, but suffice it to say that the CCP speaks with a forked tongue. It claims to adhere to fair trade, global norms, and lawful behavior in its relations with other nations but does exactly the opposite with its actions. That should alert free nations to take steps to decouple from any trade with the PRC that can adversely affect their national security priorities.
This decoupling would include products such as dual-use technologies, pharmaceuticals, and rare earth metals. It might be suicidal not to take these strong measures. However, for the sake of the American and Chinese workforces, it would be acceptable to exchange trade goods that do not jeopardize our national security. Shouldn’t it be very important to maintain a moral dimension to the overall equation of global supply chains and trade?
