SCMP: What both US and China get wrong on economic policy and trade negotiations
Categories Project, Publication
I co-authored an opinions piece with Yukon Huang in the South China Morning Post discussing what both the US and China are getting wrong on economic policy and trade negotiations:
Most observers welcomed the recent virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as some politically sensitive issues remain unresolved. On the trade war, not much has changed under Biden.
Biden’s Buy America initiatives, his commitment to “invest in middle class competitiveness”, and an updated trade strategy highlighting unfair trade practices that hurt US manufacturing firms reinforce the sentiments inherent in former US president Donald Trump’s phase one agreement.
Even as the US and China differ on many economic policies, both sides share the misleading perception that promoting manufacturing is key to job creation, innovation and security. Their respective leaders have not recognised that the path to more constructive reengagement on trade lies in knowledge-intensive services.
Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, World Bank, and Asian Productivity Organization