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What are the views on the US - China trade war?
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U.S. businesses will thrive

The trade war will help U.S. businesses thrive by encouraging innovation and forcing China to stop its unfair trading practices, which will make the U.S. more competitive and bringing jobs back to the United States.

The Argument

The trade war will force China to stop its unfair trading practices such as industrial espionage. Chinese businesses involved in partnerships with U.S. businesses have done things such as making new inventions and innovations and distributing them to Chinese businesses so that they can create better products without having to sink time and money into research. This seriously impedes the ability of U.S. businesses to innovate and be profitable, costing jobs and future growth. U.S. manufacturing industries, such as textiles, will also benefit. These industries have faced a significant decline due to Chinese competition. Between 2001-2018, the trade deficit with China cost the United States 3.7 million jobs, three-fourths of which were in manufacturing.[1] Making the U.S. more competitive and bringing jobs back to the U.S. will be very beneficial to the United States. Any short-term harm that results from the trade war will ultimately benefit U.S. businesses in the long run. Shortages and adversity will provide incentives to focus on innovative and developing creative solutions. This will ultimately improve the quality of the businesses.

Counter arguments

The trade war will only force China to stop its unfair trading practices if the U.S. wins. This is unlikely because China can last longer since its economy has more room to maneuver than the United States’ economy and its strong central government can mitigate the damage. Also, the intended result of bringing jobs back to the United States is not happening. Instead, those jobs are moving from China to other countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union.[2]

Proponents

Premises

[P1] The trade war will force China to stop its unfair trading practices which will make the U.S. more competitive. [P2] Jobs will be brought back to the United States. [P3] The impact of the tariffs will encourage innovation. [P4] The results of the trade war will help U.S. businesses thrive.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The trade war will only force China to stop its unfair trading practices if the U.S. wins. [Rejecting P2] The manufacturing jobs are going to other countries instead of back to the United States. [Rejecting P4] The trade war is hurting U.S. businesses and consumers.

References

  1. https://www.epi.org/publication/growing-china-trade-deficits-costs-us-jobs/
  2. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/us-china-trade-deal-looking-beyond-truce/
This page was last edited on Friday, 19 Jun 2020 at 01:58 UTC

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