Economists have lately been discussing China and trade because our Presidential candidates have been threatening actions to limit that damage to our economy. The economic theory of this is that trade wars will be bad for both sides and cause untold doom to all of us. Economists are not looking at the cyber aspects when they make these claims; they only look at manufacturing - where jobs are going - and trade.
We have shown China's ability to steal proprietary trade information from almost every company in the US. Their government puts that information to use in their own economy by bid rigging, making goods from our designs, and undermining the security features of the Internet where most business is done. Some of their businesses are state owned enterprises and those are related to their government intelligence operations. They use them to spy.
The main component of the Chinese response to any accusation is denial. This latest round of Obama Administration indictments of hackers, included one that showed how and when the Chinese were stealing designs for aircraft and defense articles, which only tells a small part of the whole story.
One of the reasons the trade deficit is so unfavorable to the US is China's cheating. We need some economists who recognize how cheating affects trade, how we can stop it, and where our industries cooperation with Chinese industries has undermined our own business interests. We have some business leaders who benefit from these relationships, and value them more than our own economic well being. Let's put that on the table when we discuss trade with China.
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