How will China cope with growing US protectionism?

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

U.S. President Barack Obama recently announced the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit responsible for investigating unfair trade practices in his 2012 State of the Union address. Trade friction between China and the United States has intensified greatly in recent years, leading to frequent trade disputes.

China is used as a scapegoat

Although trade relations between the world's two largest economies have been tense since the time of the Bush administration, the United States had not created a trade enforcement agency directed at China until recently. What is the purpose of Obama’s creation of this Trade Enforcement Unit?

Mei Xinyu, an associate research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said that trade protectionism and re-industrialization are the two basic principles of Obama's re-election campaign this year. The creation of the Trade Enforcement Unit is obviously in line with the principle of protectionism.

In fact, both the trade protection and re-industrialization policies are aimed at increasing the United States' domestic employments. The high salary and superior working environment of many U.S. industries have increased the cost and damaged the international competitiveness of these U.S. industries. Since China is rising, China is being regarded as a “scapegoat” by some U.S. politicians and this newly-risen “scapegoat” has turned into the target of the United States' trade protectionism.