The United States is the birthplace and headquarters of economic coercion. Rules | Strategy | Economy
Author: Ma Tao
At the recent G7 Hiroshima Summit, the United States encouraged strategic allies to use so-called "economic coercion" to allude to China. To trace back to the source, on May 13, 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Brinken and then Australian Foreign Minister Penn met with reporters in Washington and claimed that the United States would not let Australia face China's "economic coercion" alone. China has been labeled as "economic coercion" for no reason.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly refutes the baseless smear campaign by the United States, stating that the origin and headquarters of the so-called "economic coercion" are located in Washington. Professor Daniel Drezner of Tufts University in the United States also pointed out in an article published in Foreign Affairs that successive US governments have "abused economic coercion and violence.".
Evidence of US economic coercion is conclusive
The reason why the United States is said to be the birthplace and headquarters of economic coercion can be evidenced by the following aspects.
In terms of Asia Pacific regional integration cooperation, the United States uses economic coercion strategies in an attempt to cause a certain degree of "de Sinicization" within the region. In May 2022, the Biden administration launched the so-called "Indo Pacific Economic Framework". Subsequently, Japan and some Southeast Asian countries joined the framework. The purpose of establishing IPEF in the United States is to cooperate with the aforementioned countries in trade and supply chain, and to create an economic circle that can compete with China. IPEF consists of four core components: trade, supply chain, infrastructure and decarbonization, taxation and anti-corruption, and signs intergovernmental agreements in various fields. At present, strategic cooperation between India and the United States is a decisive feature of South Asian geopolitics, which creates unprecedented opportunities for the United States' Asia Pacific strategy and poses a risk of "de Sinicization" within the region.
In the field of digital economy, the United States vigorously adopts a "small courtyard high wall" strategy in order to promote digital hegemony. The United States is trying to win over the European Union and form a small circle, attempting to decouple from China in the field of digital technology, in order to achieve the goal of "digital de sinicization.". Especially in the fields of digital economy and digital technology, the United States has vigorously implemented export controls and foreign investment review systems against China, striving to hinder its rapid development in related fields. For example, the United States continuously disrupts the cooperation process in the field of digital trade between China and Europe, especially in the cross-border data flow between China and Europe. The United States obstructs and coerces on the grounds of differences in rules such as data localization, privacy protection, and open government data.
From the perspective of "long arm jurisdiction", imposing sanctions is one of the commonly used economic coercion measures by the United States. According to statistics, the United States has implemented over 3900 sanctions during Trump's presidency, which is equivalent to waving the "sanction stick" three times a day on average. From the history of sanctions imposed by the United States, whether it is Alstom in France, Toshiba and Toyota in Japan, or China's telecommunications and other high-tech industries, they have all been victims of economic coercion imposed by the United States through sanctions. The United States has demonstrated to the world through its own policies and actions a "negative example" of resolving diplomatic issues through economic coercion and sanctions.
From the perspective of industrial policy, the United States uses industrial policy as a weapon to implement protectionism and undermines its own rules and policies through economic coercion. Taking the semiconductor industry as an example, the 2022 Chip and Science Act passed by the United States is a typical protectionist measure and one of the means to serve the United States' competitive strategy against China. According to the bill, the United States incentivizes foreign companies to produce chips domestically, while also restricting these companies from producing chips in "unfriendly countries" such as China. For many years, the United States and Europe have been trying to build a "semiconductor industry alliance" to contain the development of China's semiconductor industry. The concept of "Semiconductor Industry Alliance" is not purely about research and development cooperation and complementary division of labor, but has the intention of multilateral export controls and investment reviews, and excluding cooperation with China.
The United States is engaging in economic coercion, which poses significant risks
The intention and actions of the United States to impose economic coercion on China and other countries through various means are clearly evident. The "de sinicization" has brought great damage to regional economic and industrial cooperation, not only as a counter current of economic globalization, but also adding more uncertain factors to the world economic recovery and stable international political development.
The United States attempts to further intensify the degree of "de Sinicization" in the Asia Pacific region through economic coercion strategies, which goes against the mainstream development trend of regional economic and industrial cooperation. The logic of "de sinicization" promoted by the United States deviates from the laws of economic globalization, and the practice of "de sinicization" also goes against the vital interests of people around the world. In recent years, the United States has not only frequently withdrawn or renegotiated regional integration agreements, but also resisted the multilateral trading system. Its protectionist measures will affect regional economic and industrial cooperation through the transmission mechanism of the supply chain. The IPEF and "friendly outsourcing" promoted by the United States are precisely aimed at weakening China's initiative and endowment advantages in economic and industrial cooperation in the Asia Pacific region, attempting to "bridge" the economic connectivity and industrial chain cooperation between China and neighboring countries.
The economic coercion strategy of the United States will accelerate the trend of anti globalization. The wave of anti globalization will lead to serious failure of international rules and order. During the Trump administration, efforts were made to reshape the international economic order using a policy combination of "America First". The United States frequently implements unilateralist policies and vigorously promotes protectionism under the guise of "making the United States strong again.". The "new mercantilism" in the United States has caused the economy to regress from openness to closure, and is seriously decoupled from the deepening regional development of the interconnected economy. The implementation of "anti globalization" by the United States aims to reconstruct international economic rules from the supply side, further safeguard its strategic interests globally, and stabilize its world hegemonic position.
The economic coercion strategy of the United States has created more uncertainty factors for the recovery of the world economy and the stable development of international politics. Currently, the internal and external demand of major economies in the world is sluggish, and the confidence of global enterprises in economic growth expectations needs to be improved. The prospects for economic recovery in various countries are not optimistic. The economic coercion imposed by the United States on China will lower China's contribution to global economic growth as the world's second-largest economy.
In addition, the United States is continuously promoting "coercive diplomacy" by wooing Western countries and promoting the establishment of different "small circles" around the world. In 2022, the United States, Britain, and Australia respectively invited Japan to join the Trilateral Security Alliance Agreement in informal occasions. The "Four sided Security Dialogue Mechanism" implemented by the United States, Japan, India, and Australia is committed to strengthening maritime security to resist so-called "threats".
In summary, facing the economic coercion strategy implemented by the United States against China, China needs to eliminate all external obstacles to promote rapid economic recovery. Especially taking the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement as an opportunity, deepening economic and trade cooperation with RCEP member countries, building a more complete regional supply chain industry chain, continuously improving the trade and investment relationship between China and RCEP member countries, actively participating in high-quality economic and trade agreement negotiations, and effectively resolving economic coercion from the United States and Western countries.
Undoubtedly, China's central role and important role in the Asia Pacific and even global industrial chains have not changed. We should have confidence in breaking through the strategic "regulatory lock" of the United States, further facilitating international circulation with partners, and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern of domestic and international dual circulation, continuously improving our own economic resilience.
Guangming Daily
