World economic restructuring has meant that many countries play
changing roles in production. But now, with some US manufacturers
claiming bankruptcy and dismissing employees, many Americans are
blaming China for the crunch their country is feeling.
However, the charge is unfounded, and what is happening in the
United States is simply a part of the larger restructuring
phenomenon.
Yet, a coalition of US furniture makers said Wednesday that they
would ask authorities to raise tariffs on Chinese wood
furniture.
They said the shipment of US wood furniture declined by 21
percent between 2000 and 2002 while the import of Chinese furniture
rose by 121 percent during the same period. They claimed Chinese
furniture is the very cause of job losses in the US furniture
manufacturing sector.
Not long before the incident, on July 30, bankruptcy was filed
by Pillowtex Corporation, headquartered in north Carolina, one of
the 10 biggest textile manufacturers in the United States.
The company said it was unable to supply products at prices that
could satisfy customers and make profit at the same time. The over
6,000 lost jobs at Pillowtex were taken as justification for the
company to cry out against made-in-China products: China is the
second largest textile exporter to the United States.
The US Department of Labor reported that in July 44,000 jobs
were lost and the jobless rate stood at 6.2 percent. It was a
little lower than June's 6.4 percent but remains one of the highest
rates in the past decade.
Alerted, the plant managers, especially those in hard-hit
sectors such as manufacturing, are venting their ire on China-made
products.
As consumers, on the one hand, Americans welcome the
lower-priced imports from China; while on the other, the American
manufacturers blame the same products for their lost market share.
China is also blamed for the rising unemployment rate in the United
States.
The complaints are understandable.
However, it doesn't require much gray matter to figure out that
what they have seen as the problem is far from being the whole
truth.
Since many developing countries, such as China, which used to be
locked behind trade barriers, opened up late in the last century,
world economic integration has accelerated at an unprecedented
speed, fueled by free trade, free capital flow and a global
market.
Countries with comparative advantages have combined to form a
long chain from raw materials to finished product.
The world's labor-intensive industries naturally migrate to
locations where abundant labor is available, and low wages are a
major factor in cutting production costs.
With modest living expenses, workers in these new markets can
accept less wages, although they are no less productive than their
counterparts in developed economies.
This is a result of world economic restructuring.
China is being blamed just because it happens to be one of the
locations which meet most requirements of globalized
production.
If manufacturing jobs don't go to China, it goes without
question that they will go to other countries with low production
costs, like India, Viet Nam or Malaysia.
Certainly, these jobs are not going back to the United States,
where the manufacturing industry, with its relatively high costs of
production, is not as competitive in the globalized era as it used
to be.
China has become a part of the global production chain, whether
others like it or not. And China's position benefits others.
It is true that Chinese products have penetrated the US market,
but they are often made in factories owned by firms from the United
States or other countries, as China is the world's major
destination for foreign investment. Much of the profit goes into
the pockets of foreign investors.
Americans railing at mass layoffs may forget they are enjoying
the comfortable prices and good quality of China-made products
themselves.
As Rodney D. Ludema, an expert in international trade with
Georgetown University, said: "The manufacturing industry's efforts
to keep out Chinese-made products may effectively retain some jobs,
but it will be at the price of consumers' interests and the
industry's innovation. They should get prepared for the perpetual
disappearance of some manufacturing positions."
The cure for the problems of US industry is not to erect trade
barriers, but to resort to innovation to enhance its
competitiveness.
As a matter of fact, while exporting manufacturing jobs, the US
economy is witnessing an upgrade in its industrial structure.
The restructuring will make the US economy more effective, said
Ludema in an interview with the Washington Observer
Weekly.
It is not a new phenomenon for the US manufacturing industry to
lose jobs to other countries. This time, the timing has complicated
the issue. It is only one year away from the US presidential
election. The pure economic issue is in danger of getting enmeshed
in politics.
Eyeing the votes in states where manufacturing centers are
located, politicians from both parties have expressed their
concerns over the issue of manufacturing job losses, according to
the Wall Street Journal.
Another sign is that the US government is weighing a renewal of
restrictions on Chinese-produced textile products, under pressure
from textile companies.
Major trade partners to each other, China and the United States
have common interests. Their roles are decided by their different
economic endowments.
Ignorance of that difference and unfair charges can do nothing
but hurt normal trade relations between the two sides.
(China Daily August 18, 2003)