[By Guancha Observer Network, Xiong Chaoyi] Thomas Friedman, the renowned columnist of The New York Times and author of "The World is Flat," has visited China twice in the past four months. After returning to the United States, he often writes articles based on his thoughts during these visits. On April 7 local time, he once again published a commentary article about China in The New York Times, coinciding with the moment when Trump proposed "reciprocal tariffs" to trigger a global trade war.

In the article, Friedman attempts to use his past experiences from visiting China to tell some people that they do not yet understand China. He believes that in recent years, China has achieved an unprecedented leapfrog development in the field of advanced manufacturing, which the world has failed to notice, and has built an unprecedented engine for manufacturing.

After witnessing the rise of Chinese manufacturing, Friedman criticized Trump's "reciprocal tariff" policy, believing that the United States should not impose tariffs on the entire world. However, despite appearing more rational and objective than Trump, he still could not escape the American perspective. When explaining his own主张, he claimed that the United States should rally its "industrial allies" to jointly counter China, weaken China's manufacturing capacity, and force China to invest more in the United States, and even transfer technology and supply chains to the United States.

He argued that for the United States, this country can no longer endure Trump's chaotic governance until the midterm elections, and now someone should immediately step forward to stop this destructive economic disaster.

Thomas Friedman, material picture

Friedman pointed out that China now accounts for one-third of global manufacturing (a significant increase from 6% in 2000). Whether it is cars, robots, or mobile phones, the label "Made in China" now means not only cheaper and faster but also a comprehensive upgrade to "higher quality and smarter." With China fully advancing the deep integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and manufacturing, this advantage is about to experience explosive growth.

He believed that this "manufacturing engine" stems from decades of large-scale investments by the Chinese government in education, infrastructure, and research, while at the same time, the most thriving emerging industry in the United States is political polarization and social media addiction among children.

Subsequently, Friedman quoted an article written the same day by his colleague Keith Bradsher, Beijing Bureau Chief of The New York Times:

Recent data from the People's Bank of China shows that over the past four years, state-owned banks have extended an additional 13.6 trillion yuan to industrial borrowers. New factories are being constructed day and night on the outskirts of cities across China, and existing factories are undergoing upgrades with robotics and automation. China's investment and progress in manufacturing are triggering a wave of exports, potentially leading to factory closures and layoffs not only in the United States but globally. "A tsunami is coming for everyone," said former U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

After quoting this text, Friedman officially presented his viewpoint. "This is why Trump's strategy is so foolish." He believed that the United States should not impose tariffs across the board on trading partners worldwide.

However, although Friedman criticized Trump, he clearly remained within the "narrow perspective" of some Americans when viewing China. He claimed that the United States should not confront the world on the issue of tariffs but should rally all "industrial allies" to jointly exert pressure and counter China to weaken its manufacturing output and strength. The countries and regions he mentioned include Europe, Brazil, Indonesia, India, and even Russia.

He further claimed that the purpose of doing so was to force China to redirect its efforts to domestic demand stimulation, build new factories in Hamtramck, Michigan instead of Hanoi, Vietnam, and transfer technology and supply chains to the United States through a joint venture with 50% ownership each.

Friedman expressed disappointment that things were different from what he envisioned; President Trump and Vice President Vance were busy showing off their muscles in Greenland, firing senior generals in the military, and insulting European allies... resulting in the Trump administration wasting the leverage needed to effectively counter China's powerful "manufacturing engine."

He said that American business leaders truly fail to understand that Trump and Vance's erratic actions have frightened both China and the EU, which may bring them closer together. When they see a U.S. president disregarding agreements negotiated personally, such as the USMCA, they will ask themselves, "How can we trust any agreement reached with him?"

Friedman finally stated that some Americans now look forward to the midterm elections, hoping that the Democratic Party regains control of the House of Representatives to ensure everything goes smoothly. However, he believed that the United States cannot wait that long; if Trump's unstable leadership continues for another 20 months or so, the country will irreparably disintegrate. What is needed now is for several Republicans in Congress to step forward and prevent this destructive man-made economic disaster through bipartisan cooperation.

"I just saw the future. But it wasn't in America." On April 2 local time, Friedman also published an article titled this way, mentioning his recent trip to China. In the article, he also emphasized his view: Trump's "brilliant idea" that raising tariffs would benefit the U.S. economy would not work.

Talking about the reasons for China's success, Friedman introduced a concept proposed by Jörg Wuttke, former president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China — "China Fitness Club." He explained that China values STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, annually producing about 3.5 million STEM graduates. This is roughly equivalent to the total number of associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral graduates in all disciplines in the United States.

"If we don't establish a similar fitness club behind tariff barriers, all we will get is inflation and economic stagnation," Friedman wrote. "You cannot achieve prosperity through tariffs, especially in the dawn of AI."

"When did we become so afraid? When did we start ignoring the world we live in?" Friedman criticized the "China phobia" and anti-globalization prevalent in American society. "You can criticize globalization as you wish, but it doesn't change the fact that telecommunications, trade, immigration, and climate change have intertwined the destinies of the world and its nations."

This article is an exclusive contribution from Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7490964537559024147/

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