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Restrictions on Chinese imports not answer for US unemployment
2004-02-25
China Daily
The US attempt to restrict imports of Chinese products will not help lower its long-standing high unemployment rate, according to an article in the People's Daily. An excerpt follows:
In the past two years, the US economy has been affected by prolonged high unemployment. And its current employment conditions are still not very optimistic, despite the fact some of its economic indices have rebounded.
Some in the United States have blamed the long-standing employment pressure on the massive inflow of Chinese products and the transfer of production bases to China by some American companies.
Some economists and politicians in the United States insist America's high unemployment headache would be greatly eased if renminbi, China's currency, was appreciated and Chinese exports curtailed.
However, US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan recently stated that America's attempt to block the entry of Chinese products will not help resolve the unemployment issue. He opined that international competition, not imports from China, has led to a high unemployment rate in the United States.
Greenspan has given the best reply to those Americans who argue for the revaluation of renminbi.
The US economy has begun to recover from its latest round of recession, which started in late 2001. But it has lost about 700,000 jobs over the past two years.
The new dynamic, in which economic recovery co-exists with a rising unemployment rate, is a result of the application of technological accumulation over the past two years, which boosted economic growth, and industrial outsourcing to overseas economies, which jettisoned domestic jobs.
Increased productivity has played a vital role in ratcheting up the US economy. For many years, the advantage of the US economy lay in its quick adjustment to improve productivity in tandem with new economic realities. But this adjustment, for the manufacturers, means either the relocation of factories or outsourcing of jobs to low-wage countries.
The fundamental reasons for some US companies moving their manufacturing centres to China is lower labour costs and the sound investment environment.
A revalued renminbi could lead to a decrease in China's textile exports, for example, to the United States. But that would not benefit American textile workers because other low-wage Asian producers would replace China as a source of cheap products.
Economic globalization is a process that features both gains and losses.
Erecting trade barricades will not solve the US problem of job losses. It will only affect the utility efficiency of its capital and labour resources and block American consumers from access to inexpensive products.
To help solve the problem, professional training that helps workers better cope with international competition is needed.The US attempt to restrict imports of Chinese products will not help lower its long-standing high unemployment rate, according to an article in the People's Daily. An excerpt follows:
In the past two years, the US economy has been affected by prolonged high unemployment. And its current employment conditions are still not very optimistic, despite the fact some of its economic indices have rebounded.
Some in the United States have blamed the long-standing employment pressure on the massive inflow of Chinese products and the transfer of production bases to China by some American companies.
Some economists and politicians in the United States insist America's high unemployment headache would be greatly eased if renminbi, China's currency, was appreciated and Chinese exports curtailed.
However, US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan recently stated that America's attempt to block the entry of Chinese products will not help resolve the unemployment issue. He opined that international competition, not imports from China, has led to a high unemployment rate in the United States.
Greenspan has given the best reply to those Americans who argue for the revaluation of renminbi.
The US economy has begun to recover from its latest round of recession, which started in late 2001. But it has lost about 700,000 jobs over the past two years.
The new dynamic, in which economic recovery co-exists with a rising unemployment rate, is a result of the application of technological accumulation over the past two years, which boosted economic growth, and industrial outsourcing to overseas economies, which jettisoned domestic jobs.
Increased productivity has played a vital role in ratcheting up the US economy. For many years, the advantage of the US economy lay in its quick adjustment to improve productivity in tandem with new economic realities. But this adjustment, for the manufacturers, means either the relocation of factories or outsourcing of jobs to low-wage countries.
The fundamental reasons for some US companies moving their manufacturing centres to China is lower labour costs and the sound investment environment.
A revalued renminbi could lead to a decrease in China's textile exports, for example, to the United States. But that would not benefit American textile workers because other low-wage Asian producers would replace China as a source of cheap products.
Economic globalization is a process that features both gains and losses.
Erecting trade barricades will not solve the US problem of job losses. It will only affect the utility efficiency of its capital and labour resources and block American consumers from access to inexpensive products.
To help solve the problem, professional training that helps workers better cope with international competition is needed.
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