Editorial: Kudlow’s warning against China is totally absurd
US National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow threatened China not to underestimate the US President Donald Trump’s resolve in a brewing trade battle between the world’s two largest economies after Beijing declared to impose additional tariffs on about $60 billion worth of products imported from the US.
Kudlow claimed that the tariffs imposed by China on $60 billion worth of products are a weak response to the $200 billion by the US.
The top trade adviser of Trump also made irresponsible remarks that China’s economy and currency are weak, and people are leaving the country.
By saying so, he means that China is not able to withstand the trade war while the US can take the consequences and keep escalating it. But he admitted at the same time that there is a lot China can do to “damage” US companies in China.
Kudlow’s remarks can be right on economies such as Japan, and even South Korea and Mexico, but it seems that he has forgotten that China is the largest buyer of soybeans, the largest market of automobiles and communication products, and also the fastest-growing country of internet economy. The future and destiny of a number of big US enterprises and farmers depend on Chinese market.
The imbalance shown by the figures of $200 billion and $60 billion cannot hide the mutual dependence between Chinese and US economies.
What they suggested is Washington’s madness and China’s calmness on the trade issue. The US is eager to solve it at one stroke, while China is prepared for a prolonged battle.
Kudlow is nothing but a butt of a joke by comparing the 4.1 percent quarterly growth of the US to China’s 6.8 percent rise in the first half of 2018. To get the temporary achievement, the Trump administration has drained its brain and done everything it could, and most of the scholars don’t believe it can be sustained. The US is at an end of the periodic cycle of economic growth, while China’s 6 plus percent rate is the minimum figure of its growth.
The engine of China’s economic growth is roaring thanks to the reform and opening up, and the huge market potential of the country is the most powerful fuel for the country’s, as well as the world’s economic growth. The time when Chinese economic growth relies on exportation is gradually coming to an end.
Looking ahead, the dependence of the US economy on Chinese market will outrun the other way around, which is a trend that has been known to US elites, including Kudlow.
The trade war will definitely bring troubles and suffering, and China may face a bigger pressure at the initial phase of it. But China has the confidence to take the first round of impacts from the US and enter a period of stalemate. At that time, the country’s powerful trade capabilities, institutional advantages and social cohesion will be released, which will form comprehensive strength to shock the US.
Kudlow’s warning against China to not to underestimate Trump’s determination should be changed into one against the US President and his team: do not underestimate the resolution of Chinese society to fight to the end of the US-initiated trade war.
The Chinese don’t want a trade war. But the groundless and ruthless requirements raised by the US against China suggested that what the US truly wants is to destroy China’s economic sovereignty. The US wishes to damage China’s momentum and control its economy just like it did to Japan through the Plaza Accord.
The trade war is one through which the Chinese people protect their right to develop, and they do not fear sacrifices of some short-term interests in this regard. Fortunately, they are not the only one to shoulder sacrifices, because it’s impossible for the US to stay totally unaffected. The US will definitely take the same consequences.
The US has for times smashed itself after initiating wars and confrontations against other countries out of its arrogance in history, and this time, it is facing a major country. What the US did, in the eyes of the outside world, was nothing more than the so-called “art of trade” and small tricks, but the White House is really thinking that it could strike down a giant like China. The US is being the most arrogant at the wrong time.
China is patient enough to play with the Trump administration, and history is also patient to see what jokes the Trump administration can make.
People’s Daily/Global Times
