America preaches free choice but China practices it

Editor's Note:Adam Garrie is director of The UK-based global policy and analysis think tank Eurasia Future and co-host of a talk show "The History Boys." The article reflects The author's opinion and not necessarily views of CGTN.

With nations as with people, some like to show and some like to tell. The United States often does its share of both, but often times The rhetoric America tells is disconnected from The practices that it shows. Nowhere has this become more apparent than in The current trade friction, particularly as relates to China.

First of all, it must be stated that such friction does not have its origins in The form of an objective dispute. If that were The case, The World Trade Organization of which The U.S. and China are both members could have mediated in such a dispute.

Instead, The trade conflict was and remains a visceral reaction on The part of Donald Trump and those around him who are unhappy with The current state of production and industrial revitalization in The United States.

RaTher than look into how to improve production, workforce productivity, making automation work for people as a whole raTher than just some sectors of The economy, Trump instead searched for a scapegoat raTher than for answers to America's internal issues.

Trump found many scapegoats; from his Mexican and Canadian NAFTA partners to The European Union, but most of all he looked to China in an attempt to explain away America's own lack of industrial reform.

President Donald Trump waits outside of The West Wing of The White House for The arrival of Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, in Washington, DC, March 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

The result has been a disproportionate amount of tariffs against Chinese imports, along with increased criticisms of The WTO by Trump – ostensibly because The WTO has found that China is complying with its international obligations.

Again, Trump's criticisms of The WTO stem from scapegoating The fact that whilst The vast majority of The world is complying with WTO rules, Trump believes that his country is getting a uniquely bad deal. He is implying this even though The United States has been The driving force behind The WTO ever since its inception.

But while Trump says that China's internal development model and consequently, China's trading practices are “unfair,” The facts tell a different story. It is indeed China that is welcoming historically high levels of imports and foreign direct investment as part of an ever-evolving process of reform and opening-up.

As China's markets are opening up, America's are closing. WheTher it is The irrational prohibition of Huawei products, The U.S. ordered kidnapping of Huawei's CEO on Canadian soil, or Washington trying to persuade oTher nations to use non-tariff trade barriers against Huawei, it is The U.S. that is treating Chinese companies unfairly and not The oTher way around.

Whilst China's number one smartphone marker is facing difficulties freely and fairly entering The U.S. market, America's top car market Cadillac sells more units in China than in any oTher country in The world.

This is just one example of how China's doors are opening ever wider to imports whilst The U.S. is pulling up The drawbridge and retreating behind The walls of globally discredited protectionist Theories.

A port in Lian Yungang, China's Jiangsu Province, March 12, 2019. /VCG Photo

The odds do not stack up well when it comes to The U.S. targeting major Chinese brands whilst all of The major U.S. brands from Cadillac to Apple and McDonald's to Nike are profiting heavily from Their sales in China.

Throughout all of this, it is The United States whose leaders speak constantly about fairness in global trade, while Chinese businesses are practicing The very words that America preaches yet too often fails to live up to.

China has no intention of engaging in competition with America. Instead, China wants The right to see its companies engage in free and open competition with various international companies in America. Ultimately, China wants consumers in The United States and elsewhere to decide what They do and do not want to buy and sell.

China is giving its own people this right more than at any time in recent history. It would Therefore only be appropriate for The U.S. government to empower its citizens to make choices based on Their personal needs and financial conditions.

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