I wish they did. Still waiting on some leadership that embraces competition from another country instead of blithely (and uselessly) waxing about how bad it is that other places are doing well economically.
yeah so this is just a
really foolish way of thinking.
China has been doing well economically largely at the expense of the US. Chinese markets are not free and open to US companies. US companies can't be listed on any of their stock exchanges. Chinese companies can and often are listed on our stock exchanges. It's incredibly hard for US investors to invest in China and basically impossible for a US investor to buy property over there. Chinese companies can come here- and do come here and invest in whatever the hell they want and buy as many properties as they want. US companies cannot operate in China without starting a new 50-50 joint-venture that is half-owned by the CCP- and the CCP
FORCES said US companies to transfer technology and trade secrets. The US
obviously does not do this. China is the single largest intellectual property thief in the world. That is
very bad for US firms who own said IP. China is also the single largest currency manipulator in the world- which helps them maintain their stranglehold on cheap competitive exports. China dumps commodities (steel, rare earths, solar panels) on the world market like clockwork to gain world dominance over entire industries.
People talk about Free Trade agreements all the time. Free trade agreements are nothing more than investors rights agreements. The destruction of US manufacturing and US off-shoring of millions of manufacturing jobs to China in order to use slave labor and have fewer environmental regulations is not free trade. Capital can flow freely, but labor cannot. If there was really "free trade" both sides would be subject to same environmental regulations and labor standards. China has been imposing tariffs on US products for oh ever. It was nice to finally see the US retaliate in kind.
The last guy was the first President to talk about any of this that I can remember. And he was dead right on all of it. My only gripe with him is that he did not hammer China hard enough. I wish the US would've crushed China in the late 90s or early 2000s like they are trying to crush Russia right now. We're so god damn intertwined now with China that it is impossible now.