Editor's Note: Bobby Naderi is a journalist, current affairs commentator, documentary filmmaker and member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
China's global rise poses no threat to the United States and Americans are more open to diplomatic and economic exchanges with China than the Donald Trump administration would like to be. That's according to a new survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
The Council says 68 percent or two-thirds of Americans support friendly relations with China rather than working to limit its rising power. The Council says these views have remained largely consistent since it started asking Americans this question in 2006.
Moreover, well over half of all those surveyed support negotiating arms-control agreements with China and cooperating on international development projects. It illustrates how Americans view China more than just a trading partner and how Washington's anti-China policies don't reflect those of the country at large.
The American public knows that the Chinese public and their government are more open to the U.S. on mutual trust than Washington seems to admit. In their views, a final trade settlement is long overdue as the U.S. and China can only prosper by exchanging.
To substantiate, ahead of the talks in Washington on October 11, China increased purchases of U.S. agricultural commodities. The American public knows that the new deals by the world's biggest hog and pork market were not just concessions. They aim at ending the trade friction that has undermined global markets.
What's not familiar about that? The U.S. and China even agreed on the outlines of a partial trade accord that President Donald Trump said he and President Xi Jinping could sign next month.
Liu He, China's vice premier (C), stands with Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative (L), and Steven Mnuchin, U.S. treasury secretary, while arriving for a meeting at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 10, 2019. /VCG Photo
Likewise, the American public knows that China will continue to exempt some American agricultural products from additional tariffs because this is not a trade dispute between China and the American people or farmers, or manufacturers.
After all, some will lose their farms and businesses if the international spat continues much longer. These people face financial ruin and are not willing to be collateral damage. Their patience isn't limitless and they hunger for a settlement.
On domestic front, the trade friction has not produced the desired results for the Trump administration. Rural communities were among his strongest supporters. Now that kind of support is tremendously crippled.
Trump is worried, and has taken steps to win back their support for his 2020 re-election. Last year, he came up with a bailout program that went nowhere. These people don't want bailout. They want an end to the trade friction. They are under pressure and Trump is facing an election. Perhaps, it's one of the reasons why Trump on Friday decided to shelve an increase in tariffs on Chinese commodities scheduled to take effect on October 15.
The same argument could be made about auto and appliance manufacturers. Many are already contracting, unable to pay more for steel. They loathe Trump's trade policy as it hurts their business and there are no substitutes for Chinese products. They depend on supply chains that exist only in China.
More importantly, Trump's trade policy hasn't reduced his country's trade deficit with China. The U.S. consumes more than it produces and blaming China is completely wrong. Just for the record, U.S. trade deficit in goods with the rest of the world jumped last year.
Statistics from U.S. Commerce Department showed that America's global trade deficit widened to a 10-year high of 621 billion U.S. dollars last year. For merchandise only, the deficit hit a record 891.3 billion U.S. dollars. And yes, Trump's trade policy widened the gap.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (R) shakes hands with Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan (3rd R), October 11, 2019. /VCG Photo
The widening gap came as a direct consequence of a global economic slowdown and the strength of the U.S. dollar. Trump's tax cut and other policy blunders only made it worse.
Looking back, Trump should back away from his self-destructive policy toward China. The devastating impact of tariffs on American people, manufacturers and farmers in the form of sales tax, higher prices and declines in exports is no joke.
All this and more should be enough to explain why, according to this week's survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, many American people continue to support developing relations with China and are urging their government to step back from its self-destructive abyss.
The hope is that both China and the U.S. will continue to fill the thorny blanks, return the favor, and help move the negotiations forward. We know the mantra by now and with good reason. No doubt many surprises lie ahead, but any attempt to decouple the world's biggest trading partners would devastate the global economy.
At long last, both sides should be available for a good deal at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference in the middle of November, where their partial truce is expected to be finalized. The stage is set and the destiny is disclosed. They shouldn't waste the opportunity.
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