China has played a significant role in this deindustrialization of the United States. The explosion in job losses occurred after the U.S. Congress granted China the status of “permanent normal trade relations” in 2000, ahead of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. Between 1985 and 2000, the U.S. trade deficit with China had grown steadily from $6 billion to $83 billion. But that deficit ballooned more dramatically after China joined the WTO in 2001, and it now stands at a stratospheric $309 billion. Once in the WTO, China unfairly undermined U.S.-based manufacturing by using exploited labor and providing sweeping state subsidies to Chinese firms. Even more than NAFTA—the 1994 free trade deal that allowed many U.S. I manufacturing and farm jobs to move to Mexico—the liberalization of trade with China decimated factory and rural towns, particularly in the Midwest and in the South. This devastation fueled the rise of anti-immigrant xenophobia, anti-Asian hate, and right-wing nationalism that has threatened democracy at home through extremism and violence in U.S. politics.
Am I reading this right?
- US made some policies that allowed normal trade relations with China
- China used state sponsored subsidies to boost production, while US, out of greed, moved away from manufacturing to services.
- US took a big L
Takes a lot of logic bending to make people believe that not the US’s failure to compete but China’s success is the reason for anti-Asian sentiments. It’s like losing a race and getting angry at the winner because they trained better.
The last part suggests that the anti Asian sentiment isn’t the problematic outcome but the violence/extremism from it meddling with US politics is.
The whole article just reeks of seethe.
unfairly
Succeeds.
Success causes
the rise of anti-immigrant xenophobia, anti-Asian hate, and right-wing nationalism….
Wish we could go back to the golden age when the US didn’t have these things. That was truly the time to be alive. You’re right to criticise this part of the article. Disgusting logic.
You are reading this right.
seethe.
Some in the US are salty that they can’t do to China what they did/do to South Korea.
Due to protectionism and an almost complete disregard for intellectual property law, South Korea boomed after the Korean war. Until the US decided SK had developed enough. It only needed to be a marginally successful success story for anti-DPRK propaganda. It was time to turn it into a sweatshop run for the US and a small national bourgeoisie. It’s okay to ‘steal’ US industry ‘unfairly’ but you’re not allowed to keep the profits.
Unfortunately for China, it transgressed this rule. Fortunately for China, the CPC ratified the mantra: ‘idgaf’. Unfortunately for people in the US, this just gives racists ammunition to be racist. (There’s nothing fortunate about this aspect, even in jest.)
Edit: spacing
And the supposedly all-wise and all-mighty American government was somehow unable to prevent this from happening
