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| Yes | 36% | 132 votes | Total: 367 votes | |
| No | 64% | 235 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThe real question here is should the US decide trade policy based on politics or on economics? It is not merely a question of China, but also Cuba, Vietnam, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Burma, Libya, Sudan and all of the countries whose politics are different from those of the US and our friends. Fundamentally, does America want its economic power to be a positive force for international understanding, peace, prosperity and the opening of repressive regimes or do we actually believe the right to trade fairly with us should be given only to our friends?
Why should we try to penalize the people of any country based on the political stance of a government that they may or may not support? Private citizens have every right to make personal decisions based on politics, if they so desire, but nation states should act in the interests of all citizens. America, as the world's most powerful nation has a responsibility to be a good role model and not encumber its businesses with political burdens that disadvantage them versus the French, British, German or Japanese, etc. The practice of trade policy discrimination based on politics is akin to discriminating based on religion or other irrelevant factors.
If this were purely a question of trade policy amongst American states, I believe imposing higher tariffs and duties due to political differences would be outlawed. Imagine the uproar if a red state refused to allow the goods from a blue state to cross its borders, solely based on politics! Clearly, the use of trade policy as a form of attempted coercion to force others to agree with our political policies is misguided, inappropriate and often counterproductive.
Al lowing politics to rule trade policy results in the inane Machiavellian situations like the Iran Contra debacle, wherein the US government violates its own politically based policies in order to further others. Why should VP Cheney have to play intellectual gymnastics in order to justify his controversial and secret decisions to grow business relations with Iran while CEO of Halliburton and now be attempting to marginalize bilateral economic relations? Clearly, American business should be encouraged to trade everywhere as much as possible, based on economic factors for the benefit of all concerned.
Removal of China from "most favored nation status" which is a misnomer for ordinary trade relations could have profound impacts on American economic health. What if China simply dumped even half of the US dollars from its foreign currency reserves and stopped buying our bonds? The federal reserve would likely have to reduce our own foreign reserves and plead with allies to pick up the slack in order to minimize the increase in interest paid on our federal debt.
Of course, China could chose to respond in any number of ways, including instructing state-affiliated business to avoid buying American goods. In terms of American economic health, returning to the cold war with China would be most shortsighted. It is long overdue for America to stop playing politics with US trade policy.
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No
In recent months there have been major product recalls on goods manufactured in China. We have seen anything from pet food, human food, to children's toys containing substances which the United States has deemed hazardous. It has come to the point that the media cannot even surprise us with the hook lines anymore. As soon as Americans hear, "Recall" they now assume it involves products manufactured in the Communist nation.
When China was given privileged trade status with the United States, under than President Bill Clinton, it was a point of contention. There were many Americans that were dumbfounded at this push by the Federal government to normalize trade with a communist nation, especially a country, which was considered to be hostile to the interest of the United States.
At the time there was a scandal involving then President Clinton where the government was being accused of selling our satellite technology, and the super computers which made the technology usable. It had seemed, to many Americans that the U.S. government had forgotten all about the, "1989 Tiananmen Square" incident, and China's human rights violations were forefront in the media.
However, even with the outcry of the American people protesting the Most Favored Trade status of China, the politicians saw fit to allow it anyway. There were stories floating around of possible campaign donations to President Clinton's re-election campaign. The campaign contributions from China were not just to the President himself, but it was widespread throughout the government. There were also stories of California Senator Dianne Feinstein supporting Most Favored Nation for China while her husband was involved in lucrative business deals with Chinese interest.
It could be said that the politicians were looking at their own best interest and not the interest of the people. When China was given Most Favored Nation status many U.S. companies started outsourcing their manufacturing to the communist nation. We are now seeing the ramifications of these legislative maneuvers. Unfortunately, it is a deadly game which is now affecting the health and safety of our children.
To date we have had Anti-freeze in our toothpaste, contaminated seafood, contaminated pet food, defective electronics, unsafe baby devices, and now toxic toys. These media reports of recalled items manufactured in China is only the tip f the iceberg. The size of this iceberg could sink a thousand ships the size of the Titanic. If you really want to be aware of everything that is manufactured in China and has been found to be toxic, and or unsafe, please go to the last link in the citations portion of this article.
How much do we have to see, or how many have to die before we say enough is enough. These items are manufactured by brand name American corporations that have sold out the safety of their consumers in order to keep production cost low. I wonder if they allow their children to play with these toys, or their families to eat these foods.
Now, we not only have China manufacturing goods which are hazardous to the American public, but it has now been reported in the mainstream media that they are actively hacking into Pentagon computer systems. China has now attacked not only the physical safety of the citizens of the United States, but also our national security.
Citations
ht tp://www.cnn.com/ALL POLITICS/1998/05/23/ clinton.china/
http:/ /query.nytimes.com/g st/fullpage.html?sec =technology&res=9F0C EED91E30F93AA25752C1 A965958260&n=Top/New s/World/Countries%20 and%20Territories/Ch ina
http://findarticl es.com/p/articles/mi _m0WDP/is_2000_Sept_ 18/ai_65346076
http:/ /www.google.com/sear ch?hl=en&rls=com.mic rosoft:en-us&sa=X&oi =spell&resnum=0&ct=r esult&cd=1&q=tiananm en+square&spell=1
htt p://www.dailyrepubli can.com/dncethic.htm l
http://ads.wnd.com/ news/printer-friendl y.asp?ARTICLE_ID=205 15
http://www.who-suc ks.com/business/made -in-china-2007-dange r-timeline
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