International observation: The label of "economic coercion" is still the most suitable concept for the United States or for itself | The United States | Economy

Recently, some US government officials have frequently hyped up the concept of "economic coercion" and even wooed allies to counter the so-called "economic coercion" by China. In fact, the United States is the world's largest economically coercive country today. The economic coercion of the United States demonstrates its hegemonic nature and has become the biggest threat to the world economy today.

The United States is the initiator of economic coercion and coercive diplomacy. The United States is accustomed to accusing other countries of using their great power status, coercive policies, and economic coercion to coerce other countries into obeying and engaging in coercive diplomacy. Taking only the infamous sanctions imposed by the United States as an example, the United States continues to expand its "long arm jurisdiction" and frequently applies indiscriminate sanctions on other countries. According to statistics, from 2000 to 2021, the United States increased its foreign sanctions by 933%. The Trump administration alone has imposed over 3900 sanctions, equivalent to waving an average of three "sanctions batons" per day. So far, the United States has imposed unilateral economic sanctions on nearly 40 countries around the world, affecting nearly half of the world's population.

Abuse of export controls, imposition of unilateral sanctions, setting up "small courtyards and high walls", implementing technological blockades, disrupting economic and trade exchanges, and "fishing law enforcement" to lure citizens of other countries... The United States employs a variety of economic coercion methods, using every means possible. "Long arm jurisdiction," "high tariffs," "market access," "currency manipulation," "anti-dumping and anti subsidy measures," and "protection of intellectual property rights" are all openly included in its "toolbox" for maintaining global hegemony. In recent years, the United States has continuously generalized the concept of national security, abused export controls and other measures, and even sacrificed the vital interests of allies to coerce some countries to adopt trade protection measures against China, artificially promoting industry decoupling and disconnection. "The US dollar is our currency, but it's your trouble," said former US Treasury Secretary John Connery, highlighting the ugly face of US economic coercion.

The ruthlessness of the United States' economic coercion methods and policies is heinous, and even its allies are deeply affected. In 2013, the United States cited its domestic law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, to arrest Alstom executive Pierucci on the grounds of overseas bribery and induce him to sign a plea agreement in order to obtain more evidence and information that was unfavorable to Alstom. Eventually, Alstom had to accept General Electric's acquisition request.

In the 1980s, Japan's semiconductor industry flourished, posing a threat to American companies. The United States forced Japan to sign the US Japan Semiconductor Agreement and imposed trade sanctions on various Japanese products such as semiconductors and computers, weakening Japan's industrial competitiveness and development. According to media reports such as The Wall Street Journal in the United States, in 1985, when the then US Deputy Trade Representative, Wright Heyzer, was negotiating steel imports with Japan, he folded Japan's negotiation list into a paper airplane and threw it at Japan, which became a shocking scene of US hegemony and economic coercion.

The arbitrary implementation of economic coercion by the United States has deeply affected countries around the world, especially developing countries. After the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, the United States imposed extreme sanctions on Russia, causing severe fluctuations in the international financial and commodity markets, posing a threat to the security of the global industrial and supply chains. The US government has diverted its frozen $7 billion Afghan assets for other purposes, and this "blatant robbery" has made the lives of the Afghan people even worse. The United States has long illegally imposed severe unilateral sanctions on Syria, posing numerous difficulties to the country's economic development and reconstruction process.

The United States arbitrarily implements economic coercion with the aim of maintaining its own hegemony. And the United States implements economic coercion recklessly, on the one hand because its military and economic hegemony still exist; On the other hand, it is the US government that disregards the reality of increasingly severe wealth inequality and political polarization in the country, attempting to "treat internal problems and external problems", using accusations against other countries as an excuse to cover up the predicament of inadequate political governance.

The world trend is vast and mighty. If it goes with it, it will prosper; if it goes against it, it will perish. In today's world, with the deepening of political multipolarity and economic globalization, emerging markets and developing countries are emerging in groups, and more and more countries are criticizing, reflecting, and resisting US economic coercion. The pace of China's development is unstoppable, the historical process of national rejuvenation is irreversible, and economic coercion against China is destined to fail.