U.S. bullying bound to fail in revitalizing its economy: experts

A symposium on China-U.S. trade frictions is held at University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

BEIJING, Aug. 27-- U.S. attempts to reinvigorate its economy and relocate American manufacturers back home from China through trade bullying are doomed to fail, experts said.

Unilateralism won't help the United States solve problems at home, and America's "greatness" will be unsustainable without rational global production distribution and cooperation, said Dai Changzheng, dean of the School of International Relations at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).

Dai's remarks were echoed by experts at a UIBE symposium on China-U.S. trade frictions held Tuesday in Beijing.

China's position in global manufacturing is irreplaceable given its industrial maturity and concentration, said Zhang Jianping, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.

"Industrial transfer takes a long time. Steps such as preliminary investigation and commercial negotiation can not be accomplished within a short period," Zhang said, commenting on the remarks of the U.S. side on pulling U.S. firms out of China. "Willful intervention of global industrial transfer will only fail."

Huo Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Society for WTO Studies, said multinationals will not be willing to leave the Chinese market given its all-round supporting industrial systems, sound infrastructure, skilled workforce, and improving business environment.

"China has seen steady growth in foreign investment inflow," Huo said. "The decision on whether or not to leave China will ultimately be made by the foreign-funded firms themselves."

Attendees at the symposium believe that U.S. escalation of trade tensions constitutes a flagrant violation of international rules, is unscrupulous trade bullying and poses a grave threat to the healthy development of the global economy.

With the announcement of levying additional tariffs on Chinese imports worth about 300 billion U.S. dollars, the United States will see its average tariff level against China rise to 21.5 percent, far above its weighted average most-favoured-nation rate of 3.1 percent, according to Lin Guijun, executive dean of the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of UIBE.

The U.S. has violated the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rule on nondiscrimination of WTO members and its commitment to capping tariff levels under the GATT, Lin said.