US must stop blaming China for its trade deficit problems

The United States' trade deficit widened to a record high in 2021, as shown by data released by the US Commerce Department.

Some US officials and media outlets have cited the trade deficit with China as the main source of the US' trade imbalance, thus passing the buck to China while refusing to accept the US' structural problems and its trade bullying tactics.

The continuous expansion of the US trade deficit is actually rooted in the changes in its economic structure. Declining manufacturing and expansion in services for decades have made the US dependent on imports. The US also exercises export control on its high-tech enterprises and products, which is one of the main reasons for its ever-widening trade deficit.

Thanks to the dollar's monopoly, the US has long imported goods and services at a lower cost, inevitably contributing to its trade deficit. Since the end of the Bretton Woods system and the decoupling of the US dollar from gold in the 1970s, the US has pursued an expansionary monetary policy and financial liberalization, which has exacerbated asset bubbles, stimulated excessive consumption and borrowing and led to rising trade deficits.

Weighed down by fiscal and monetary policies, the US' consumer demand has been heating up and imports have increased significantly. At the same time, as overall global economic recovery has been weak, the relatively limited growth in US exports is struggling to offset the surge in imports, exacerbating the trade deficit. Disruption in some Southeast Asian economies' supply chains because of the COVID-19 pandemic have also expanded US demand for Chinese products. However, the US has unilaterally staged economic and trade frictions with China and put a large number of Chinese companies on its export control list, further reducing US exports to China.

The solution to the US' trade deficit with China lies clearly with the US itself. China always maintains that problems in Sino-US economic and trade ties should be solved by the two sides through consultation with mutual respect. To blame China for the trade deficit is nothing but trade bullying.

The US should meet China halfway, focus on common interests, make the pie of mutual benefit bigger and bring Sino-US economic and trade exchanges back on track. Only sound and stable Sino-US economic and trade ties can benefit the people of the two countries and the world at large.