Chinese Trade is Just Business

China runs a trade surplus with the U.S. that, in 2014, is a new record, $342.6 Billion.  This is creeping up on the $585 Billion the U.S. spends on Defense every year.  Most countries can't afford this kind of debt, and would attempt to cut back on the amount and type of trade to get a better balance.  A long list of U.S. companies does business in China, manufacturing products there.  [ http://www.jiesworld.com/international_corporations_in_china.htm ] and nobody is asking them to cut back on selling or manufacturing goods in China.

Most businesses see manufacturing in China as "just business", required to reduce the cost of production or get into the largest market in the world.  An article in the China Daily [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2015-11/13/content_22446414.htm  ] says that cost difference is down to 4% over the  cost of manufacturing in the U.S., though it varies by type of product.  Board rooms should take notice.  If that market were open, instead of severely restricted by a centrally managed government, the numbers in trade on both sides of the equation might balance out a little better.  Instead, it works against us.

GM is going to start selling Chinese cars in the U.S.  This is after years of teaching the Chinese to make cars, and bantering with them over theft of designs.  The Chinese aircraft manufacturing is getting its footing and beginning to turn out some aircraft that might actually make it in world markets.  A report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission shows how the industry used joint ventures to skirt technology transfers and steal trade secrets.  There is almost no computer that does not have its parts or whole body made in China, accessories like hard drives and routers included.  The Chinese control that market.  Think about that as you read this text.  It was created on a computer made in China, routed to you by equipment made in China, and stored on servers that will one day be Chinese.  They control equipment used in the distribution of information.

We are passed the time when this kind of imbalance is "just business" and it is becoming a national security issue.  The Chinese have too much leverage over our government.   They own large chunks of our debt and they get what they want because of it.  At the same time, they steal our technology as a part of a national strategy, plow our ideas back into their manufacturing capability, and increase our debt even more.  At some point business leaders need to think of themselves as part of something bigger than the boundaries set by corporate structures.  Like GM, they will one  day see that manufacturing in China produces competition that is not part of fair trade.