Some experts are worried that with US mid-term elections scheduled to take place this year, trade with China could become a hot-button issue in Washington. Some recent developments would seem to point in the direction of concern.

At the recent China-US Business Forum organized by People's Daily and the China Chamber of Commerce, US Trade Representative Rob Portman announced the creation of a special task force charged with stepping up enforcement of domestic and international trade rules toward China. The team will be led by a new chief counsel within Portman's office, the first such position created by the agency for a single country. Mr. Portman claimed that Chinese exporters have reaped great benefits from the opening of the American market which have exceeded what American exporters have gotten from China's WTO accession, adding that readjustment of trade policy towards China is necessary. Some western media are calling the move "unprecedented".

The tougher trade stance towards China comes on the heels of statistics recently released by the US Department of Commerce showing that though the United States' exports to China grew by 20 percent last year, its trade deficit with China also soared by 24.5 percent to reach $201.6 billion. Immediately after the DOC report, those in Congress unsatisfied with the trade situation began calling for greater pressure on China.

Those calling for such greater pressure are overlooking the fact that there are a number of factors behind the China-US trade imbalance, including old ones such as US rigid control on Chinese exports, as well as new influences that have come into play as a result of the ever-growing globalization process.

The experts also agree that the imbalance is also related to the sharp increase in overseas sales by multinational companies and their selling back to parent corporations as international manufacture moves to China on a large scale. They point out that the US deficit would shrink significantly or even be turned into a surplus if the net overseas sales of these companies and their imports and exports were to be deducted.

The China-US sides differ markedly in statistical methods. US calculations are based on rules of origin, that is, the nationality of imported goods is determined by their original places of production, manufacture or substantive processing, while Chinese figures have never included these. American figures also add in transit trade via Hong Kong and Macao.

As the world's most powerful developed country and the largest, fast-moving developing country, the US and China are by all accounts at different development stages and industrial structure, and naturally they play different parts in labor division in the new global economy. From this point of view, the Sino-US trade gap only proves that the two economies are functioning in a highly complementary and mutually beneficial fashion. The benefits China gains from the surplus are returned in numerous ways to the US��for instance, through the buying of US bonds. As contacts increase, both sides should adopt a more rational attitude towards existing problems.

As Mr. Cheng Siwei, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, put it at the Forum: China and the US should solve trade frictions through equal-footed consultation, and the US side would do better not to politicize trade issues. The problem will only get worse if we, like some in Washington as the elections approach, are quick to point the finger at the other side whenever a dispute crops up.

By People's Daily Online