China, From the Trade War to the Strategic Enemy, is Now Back to a Significant Trading Partner

China, From the Trade War to the Strategic Enemy, is Now Back to a Significant Trading Partner

Mujeeb Khan  

 

President Xi -President Biden meeting ahead of G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia

President Trump Welcomes Chinese President Xi to Mar- a- Lago

Chinese Containers at Seattle Ports

  In the 20th century, it was said that religion should be kept separate from politics. In the 21st century, business leaders insist that political leaders separate business from politics. The politics of religion was exploited in the Cold War. The final decisive war of the Cold War took place on Islamic jihad in Afghanistan, and then as a result of Islamic terrorism, it was agreed that religion should be kept separate from politics. China is a business powerhouse. Containing China through the politics of strategic adversary is harming businesses. China is like Amazon. Amazon has quickly become the giant retail store of the world. But Walmart, Cosco, and other big retailers have not started a trade war against Amazon. They all focus on promoting business and business profits. What are the disadvantages of the US from China? China as a Strategic adversary can cause major economic and trade war losses.

  President Donald Trump was not an experienced politician but an experienced businessman. It was surprising that President Trump started a trade war against China. Businessmen do not believe in trade wars, because a business war means destroying each other’s businesses. After becoming president, Donald Trump first invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to Mar-a-Lago. Florida. A grand banquet was given in honor of President Xi. President Trump was impressed by President Xi in this first meeting. President Trump called President Xi my friend. The trade war was the brainchild of Peter Navarro, assistant to President Trump’s director of trade and manufacturing policy for China.

 All 50 US states traded with China. US retailers and manufacturers depended on China; they were making billions of dollars from trade with China. Their profit markup was 300% to 500%. In the 1990s, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji gave a question-and-answer session to students at Washington State University in response to a student’s question that China was making a lot of money from the United States. Prime Minister Zhu Rongji said, “It costs $10 to make Nike shoes in China, including materials and labor, and we make only 2 dollars, and in Chicago, Nike shoes are sold for 280 dollars. Now, who is making the money, your American company or China? They were making billions of dollars from trade with China. These facts were in front of every administration, but nevertheless, the trade war was beyond reason.

 This is not a trade war; the real trade war was between the countries of the North and the South. When the industrialized countries of the North did not pay a fair price for raw materials of the countries of the South, they exploited their raw materials. They used to make goods from their materials and then sell them at a high price. And it was an exploitative trade. After losing the war with the Taliban, the US had to make an enemy of a giant country with a large population, and that was China. China was made an enemy by the trade war. As a result of US sanctions against Chinese companies, thousands of Chinese were unemployed. While China saved the middle class from collapsing during the 2008 US recession. There is a public interest in trade and business. The trade war that President Trump started with China was not in the interests of the people. It was in the interests of the Pentagon, the national security establishment. In order to keep the tension in the world, the arms industry should be prosperous. The defense budget should not be cut but increased. But the problem is that America’s militarism policies are becoming unpopular with the American people. Most of the American people do not support the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy. The billion dollars that were being spent on the Afghan war are now being spent on Ukraine. What would have been spent on the American people is now being spent on saving Ukraine. As President Biden has said that 18 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars commit suicide every day and are involved in various shooting incidents in the United States. They are suffering from mental and psychological diseases due to spending twenty-two years on the front of wars. Wars are not solving as many problems as they are creating more problems. And China is appraising the situation with satisfaction. China knows that its market is vital for the US and Europe.

  President Trump was a businessman, and he knew that capital goes where business goes. President Trump was asking American companies to leave China and come back to America. Will there be a businessman and company in the world who will leave a $100 billion business and come to America to do business for $50 billion dollar? The chairmen of major US financial institutions, chief executives of companies, and retailers had urged President Biden to settle matters with China and separate politics from business. A three-hour meeting between President Biden and President Xi in Bali, Indonesia, appears to have made progress in settling matters. President Xi had a smile on his face.