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China's development benefits US economy
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-08-28 08:43
The US economy has benefited greatly from China's economic growth, and
"simply blaming China will not solve issues relating to US economic
transformation," an American expert on anti-dumping laws said Friday in an
interview with Xinhua.
"China and the United States are the twin engines of world economic growth.
China's economic development has numerous beneficial effects on the US economy,"
said Jeffrey S. Grimson, 38, Counsel and Chair of the China/International Trade
Practice ofKaye Scholer LLP, an international law firm with over 500 lawyers on
three continents.
Foremost, "Chinese goods have a reputation for being low-priced. The
availability of low-priced goods has had a beneficial impact on the US economy,
by enabling consumers to enhance their standard of living while keeping
inflation down," said Grimson who have been working in the field of anti-dumping
laws for 15 years.
Chinese products are moving up the scale of quality too, he added.
Also, economic prosperity in China means more potential customers for US
goods and services, he said.
What's more, "the rise of China as a manufacturing superpower has pushed US
business to modernize and achieve ever higher levelsof efficiency and
productivity," said Grimson.
Grimson holds that it is not right for US manufacturers to blame China for a
decline in US manufacturing jobs, saying "the transformation of the US economy
started long before the current 'crises' with China's trade imbalance, the
currency, or textiles. Simply blaming China will not solve issues relating to US
economictransformation."
According to statistics compiled by the US-China Business Council, he said,
the US manufacturing sector's share of the US economy has fallen from 32 percent
in 1960 to 22 percent in 1980, and to 14 percent in 2002.
Grimson noted that "in fact, the decline in the contribution ofthe US
manufacturing sector to the overall economy began long before China's emergence"
as a major trade power.
On the bilateral economic and trade relationship, Grimson said the overall
economic and trade ties between China and the United States are built on a
strong foundation of mutual benefit, and thefact that the relationship is not
viewed in the United States as a"two-way street" is in part because the US-China
trade statistics are typically viewed in isolation, rather than in broader
regionalterms.
For example, less than half of the US trade deficit in 2004 is related to
trade with East Asian countries, including China, he said, while "overall, the
US trade deficit with the rest of the world has increased nearly three times as
much as the trade deficit with China over the past ten years."
Because of the negative perception of the US-China trading relationship,
trade disputes that might otherwise be considered anexpected consequence of such
a large volume of trade take on a whole new political aspect, Grimson noted.
"Groups interested in curtailing free trade are able to capitalize on the
negative political environment to achieve objectives that might not otherwise be
attainable," he said.
It is essential for the two countries to handle trade disputes in an
objective,transparent fashion, abiding by fundamental principles of fairness in
addition to merely the strict letter of international and domestic law, said
Grimson.
"For the United States, abiding by international trade agreements is
paramount to maintaining global credibility as a country committed to open
markets not only abroad, but also at home," he said.
"Unilateral action is not the ideal way to resolve trade disputes," Grimson
noted, "Quotas, especially unilateral quotas, are the opposite of what the
international free trade rules seek to achieve."
Grimson has traveled to China many times over the past 10 years. When asked
about his impression of the Chinese economy, hesaid that the pace of growth of
China's economy is unprecedented.
"China is speeding through decades of development in only a fewyears. As
such, the country has the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of countries.
In particular, China can look to the lessons of other developed countries in
areas such as urban planning and the environment," he said.
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