Amid so-called “de-risking” rhetoric led by the United States, as the world relies more on China’s exports, China is learning to rely more on itself, reported the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based English-language daily.
So far, Washington’s actions have little to show for results, Yukon Huang, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in an opinion piece for the daily.
According to official U.S. data, the United States’ merchandise trade deficit with China was larger last year than when former President Donald Trump took office, and the overall trade deficit is at a record high. Moreover, U.S. imports of manufactured goods have not moderated, with import penetration rising to 34 percent from 31 percent in 2017, the article said.
There has been a dramatic decline in China’s importance to U.S. trade, but China’s exports to the world have risen to record highs in recent years, Huang said.
China has moved on from being largely an assembler of imported components to a manufacturer of sophisticated products, which has made China more self-sufficient, Huang wrote.
