Here’s a letter sent on February 21st to the Financial Times; it has not been published:
Editor:
You report that “Washington has warned Beijing that the US and its allies will take action if China tries to ease its industrial overcapacity problem by dumping goods on international markets” (“US warns China against dumping goods on global markets,” Feb. 20).
More-revealing wording is “Washington has warned Beijing that the US and its allies will not allow their own citizens to enrich themselves if China tries to ease its industrial overcapacity problem by increasing the rest of the world’s access to goods traded on international markets.”
We today in America are bombarded with demands to “put America first!” Heeding this plea with the greatest enthusiasm, it seems, are none other than the Chinese. They are producing, apparently at a loss to themselves, an abundance of goods that we Americans would eagerly scoop up but for Washington’s obstinate refusal to let us do so. Washington insists that the Chinese keep this abundance of goods for themselves.
In the topsy-turvy world of trade policy, the government putting America first is headquartered in Beijing while the one putting the Chinese first resides on the banks of the Potomac.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
