This article is republished from the 【CCTV News Client】;

The White House has recently stated multiple times that so-called "major progress" has been made in trade negotiations with Mexico, Japan, the European Union and other parties. However, all parties have successively denied the US side's statement. How to view the attitudes of various parties that have come into contact with the United States?

Professor Cui Hongjian of the Regional and Global Governance Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University: At present, regarding the tax policies implemented by the United States, the attitude of other economies and countries in the world can be roughly divided into three categories. Among them, China has a clear stance, a tough attitude, and resolutely opposes it.

Most countries watch as the US backfires and are not willing to compromise with the US in good faith

Professor Cui Hongjian of the Regional and Global Governance Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University: The other two types, one is smaller economies. In their view, reaching some kind of compromise with the United States in the future may be an inevitable way out. After all, with their current size, it is difficult for them to counter Trump's tax policy. However, these countries are also watching closely. On the one hand, they pay attention to the reactions of other countries in the world, hoping that some country will confront the United States head-on, forcing the Trump administration to change its policy; on the other hand, they also keep an eye on changes in the domestic situation in the United States. If the US economy has problems before achieving its expected goal of taxing other countries, it may also force the Trump administration to change its original intention.

Professor Cui Hongjian of the Regional and Global Governance Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University: Another type, such as developed economies like Europe and Canada, adopts the strategy of countering the United States, but the purpose is to achieve conditional compromise with the United States through countermeasures. Against this backdrop, the United States cannot achieve its goal of taxing the whole world with just unilateral intentions or coercive means alone.

The US Advocates the "Harmful Trade Deficit Theory" and Criticized by Multiple Parties

The White House always portrays itself as a "victim", advocating the so-called "harmful trade deficit theory", and has been criticized by multiple parties. We all know that globalization has brought win-win results to the world. During the decades-long process of globalization, including the United States, all countries in the world have benefited from international trade. So where did the money earned by the United States go?

The US Falsely Attributes Its Own Unequal Distribution Problem to Free Trade

Professor Cui Hongjian of the Regional and Global Governance Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University: The series of policies currently promoted by the current US government follow a typical "treating external problems as internal ones" logic, attributing the problem of unequal domestic distribution to free trade. In fact, many Western scholars, including American scholars, admit that the US trade deficit situation actually brings many benefits. On the one hand, the trade deficit consolidates the status of the US dollar as a financial hegemon to a certain extent; on the other hand, it also makes the United States a financial center for many countries, attracting a large amount of investment and bond purchases.

Professor Cui Hongjian of the Regional and Global Governance Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University: However, when assessing the trade situation, the United States selectively ignores these factors. Taking US-EU bilateral trade as an example, the United States constantly blames Europe for being in surplus in goods trade for a long time and gaining an advantage. But Europeans have different views, as the United States has a surplus in services trade with Europe for a long time, yet the United States says nothing about it.

Finding Excuses for Unilateral Policies, the US Deliberately Ignores Its Real Gains

Professor Cui Hongjian of the Regional and Global Governance Research Institute of Beijing Foreign Studies University: Now, all the arguments of the United States revolve around the thinking of the Trump administration, fabricating the so-called "trade deficit harmful theory". If the United States cannot calm down and fundamentally solve the problem of domestic unequal distribution, namely the situation where a few people control most of the wealth in society, but instead repeatedly attributes the contradictions to trade, especially free trade, then ultimately the United States will not only fail to solve the trade problem, but the domestic problems will continue to exist and may even further intensify.

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7496452698087195145/

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