We Must End the US-China Trade War

By: Amaan Musani

China is the manufacturing powerhouse of this world. Chances are that the clothes you are wearing, or the device you are reading this on were manufactured in China. It doesn't just stop there. In fact, most of the objects around you have, in some manner, originated from China. China has a strong hand in almost every industry on this planet; this is upsetting governments around the globe. Leaders and common folk alike fear the control that a foreign country has over their lives. Are actions like placing heavy tariffs on China’s goods and services really the best way to solve this problem? Do the benefits truly outweigh the price that we as a country are paying?

To truly understand the extent of the trade deficit that the U.S. is in, we must look back to 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization or WTO. The Clinton and Bush Administrations had high hope for this move, pushing the WTO to add China as one of its members. The U.S. foresaw a strong uptick in the stock market and improved exports as a result of adding one of the largest markets into their trading partners, and for almost a decade it seemed that that was exactly what was happening. The consumer market flourished as cheaper goods from China made everyday items substantially cheaper. The stock market was slowly climbing ever higher, however, this effect was also happening elsewhere.

 Instead of the U.S. reaping the majority of the benefits from this move, it was rather China who was soaring to new highs. The Chinese got everything they expected from the move, such as improved global relations and fewer people in poverty, and so much more. By requiring companies to buy products locally if they wanted to build their product in China, the number of jobs in China rose exponentially to meet the vast demand. Also, since they now had increased access to trading partners, they slowly climbed their way to becoming the largest exporter of goods in the world. In just a few years, the Chinese had gone from being a middle of the pack country to truly a world power. 

In the present day, they have only tightened their grip on the world economy. And as governments are realizing how much power China truly has over them, they are trying to do everything to break free. In 2018, President Trump placed a tariff on solar panels and washing machines which marked the start of a 2 year-long trade war that represents deteriorating relations between China and the country that in a way put them in the position that they are in today. Back and forth we go, trading tariffs and peace talks, escalating and subverting tensions, and now it is at a boiling point. The Trump Administration wants to ban Tik Tok, WeChat, and about 60 other Chinese based apps and China won't have it. The recovery of the economy post COVID crash is about to have never existed. So now we must think. Is this really the way to fix the problem? 

My proposal is not going to be easy, but it is something that our leaders have to do. Banning apps will only make relations worse. We need to either guarantee that we aren't being dominated by using good dialogue and transparency to have some control of the US operations of these companies. I think that we need to bridge the gap between our import and export deficit with China by reworking the deals that we operate our trade with. The WTO needs to regain the power that it once had by adopting and revising their laws to support modern 21st-century trade. Overall communication with our neighbors across the ocean needs to improve. Instead of hostility, we should approach them with a friendliness that can only improve relations moving forward. By gaining equality, we will once again secure a powerful ally and partner for the next generation on both sides to reap the bounties of.