China is a sweat shop, not a trade threat!

I find this article quite insightful about the true nature of Sino-American trade war.New York Times: “Some Assembly Needed: China as Asia Factory”.

“But often these days, "made in China" is mostly made elsewhere — by multinational companies in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States that are using China as the final assembly station in their vast global production networks. Analysts say this evolving global supply chain, which usually tags goods at their final assembly stop, is increasingly distorting global trade figures and has the effect of turning China into a bigger trade threat than it may actually be.”

See? China is making not much money; most of the profits are kept in the pockets of Westerners.

“It may look as if China is getting the big payoff from trade. But over all, some of the biggest winners are consumers in the United States and other advanced economies who have benefited greatly as a result of the shift in the final production of toys, clothing, electronics and other goods from elsewhere in Asia to a cheaper China.”

See? Ordinary Americans benefit from trade as well.

“Asian exports to the United States have actually slipped over the last 15 years. Factories in Taiwan used to assemble many of the world's computers; now China does. Hong Kong garment workers used to stitch tons of fabric into finished clothing; now Chinese workers do.”
"The biggest beneficiary of all this is the United States," said Dong Tao, an economist at UBS in Hong Kong. "A Barbie doll costs $20, but China only gets about 35 cents of that."

See? Americans actually lose nothing. It is other developing countries that are losing market share in face of competition from China.

I have to say

To Chinese:  start your own companies once you save enough money from your factory wage. You shouldn’t work as cheap labor for you whole life.

To some American politicians: Have you no sense of decency or shame? Shut up please!