Opposing view: Let's not make a trade deal with the Chinese

At this weekend’s summit of the Group of 20 nations, some will be urging President Donald Trump to ease tariffs on China. In exchange, Beijing would finally halt such longstanding predatory trade practices as intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer. It sounds encouraging, but it would be the height of folly to believe that China might actually comply.

America has been a victim of China’s trade war since 1994, when Beijing pegged its currency at an artificially low rate to the dollar. This made Chinese exports particularly cheap in the U.S. market — and drove a massive increase in U.S. goods deficit with China.

Since then, China has built its economy by relying on America’s wide open consumer market. Last year, the U.S. goods deficit with China reached a record $376 billion.

In 2001, Beijing joined the World Trade Organization by promising to open its markets and move toward a more democratic government. However, China simply continued to undervalue its currency and massively subsidize key industrial sectors, all in clear violation of WTO rules.

China has also engaged in the most persistent, massive, state-directed commercial espionage campaign in history. Chinese companies hack U.S. networks with impunity and readily steal high-tech intellectual property.

In response, President Trump imposed Section 301 tariffs to address this ongoing hacking and espionage. When the first $50 billion in tariffs were implemented, China denied wrongdoing and instead retaliated. When additional tariffs of $200 billion were implemented, China again denied wrongdoing, and again retaliated.

Beijing has been conducting a China-first policy for many years, making a bid for regional and global superpower status. What’s at stake is not just trade and technology, but also military, economic and political leadership in the coming decades. At the G-20, China could pledge to end some hacking and IP theft. But it would be yet another hollow promise.