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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Don't pin the rap on China for job losses in the US

The Los Angeles Times has carried a commentary entitled "Don't pin the rap on China for job losses in the US" .


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The Los Angeles Times has carried a commentary entitled "Don't pin the rap on China for job losses in the US" .

The article notes all of this new talk about China, its exchange rate and the loss of US manufacturing jobs is somewhere between incoherent and absurd.

The commentator believes trade is not the driving force behind manufacturing job losses. The real culprits are technology-driven productivity gains and structural change in the US economy.

The writer stresses it's not right to pin the rap for disappearing jobs on trade, and it's beyond the pale to pin it on China. China doesn't make stuff cheap; it makes cheap stuff. That is, China's products generally don't underprice and compete with American ones. Instead, the countries that China is pushing aside are Mexico, Malaysia and the like �� the folks who were already making cheap clothing, shoes and toys.

The article added it's almost surreal to imply that US trade position would be affected by the Chinese letting their currency appreciate, which would make their exports more expensive and their imports cheaper. All that would change is the name of the country printed on the sticker on the bottom of your flip-flops.

The commentary concludes that the image of a billion Chinese workers is daunting. But rather than a threat, the Chinese are an opportunity, the market of the future.


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