Expert refutes rhetoric of U.S. losing in trade with China

HONG KONG- The United States, instead of suffering losses, enjoys tangible benefits from its trade with China, a prominent Chinese expert said here on Tuesday.

Such views that the United States has suffered losses due to the trade deficit with China are “lopsided and lagging behind the development of the times,” Zeng Peiyan, chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said at a forum on China-U.S. trade and economic relations. Zeng said the dominance of the U.S. dollar as an international currency is the major reason that determines its long-term trade deficit.

The U.S. domestic imbalance between consumption and savings as well as industrial restructuring adjustments also contributed to its trade deficit, Zeng added. If the United States can loosen its restrictions on high-tech exports to China, its trade deficit with China will go down, Zeng said. Zeng said the current U.S. goods trade deficit does not mean that the United States is in an unfavorable position in its trade with China. The United States boasts a surplus in trade with China in services, Zeng said, adding that it can markedly offset the U.S. goods trade deficit.

Zeng said the U.S. deficit with China would be overestimated if calculated with the traditional method, as exports from a country include products from many other countries with globalized division of labor. U.S. consumers have enjoyed many affordable quality products because of growing U.S.-China trade, and U.S. companies have also received rich returns from the Chinese market, one of the major retail markets in the world, Zeng added.

(Xinhua)