Should the US ban imports from China?

No

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by Mike Krowka

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Over the past 20 years, China and the United States have gone from suspicious enemies to partners on a global playing field. The flow of goods and services has increased dramatically, which has been good for both countries. The United States also has a feeling that China has grown so much recently that their share of the global power has increased as well. Even though our days of communist-rhetoric are mostly over, people are wary of a large, powerful China. Regardless of this fact, when cheap labor and capitalism collide, large profits are made and political, cultural and ethnic boundaries are blurred.

American society hears the term "outsourcing" very often now. Our factories close in the Midwest, only to have larger ones open with the same company in China. They operate for a tenth of the cost and allow companies like Wal-Mart and others to operate profitably. However, the reason that our companies open factories in China is the low cost of labor and loss of the value of the dollar. This allows companies, who would spend much, much more on labor to make more money and cheaply. However, it is a paradox..

Take for example the blue-collar factory worker that has been put out of a job. Their job has been outsourced to China so their company can stay profitable. The worker, who needs to save money in times of hardship (or everyday), goes shopping at Wal-Mart. However, Wal-Mart imports allow Americans to pay very low prices and afford items they ordinarily would not buy. According to the AFL-CIO, Wal-Mart is the single largest importer of foreign goods in the US, and 80% of it comes from China. When people say that we should stop importing from China, they are also asking Americans to stop a way of life they have grown accustomed to, low prices on every day goods.

The other side of the coin shows, not only does the US benefit greatly from imports, but China does as well. We create millions of jobs for their economy and have lifted them from a problematic communist country to a hybrid communist-capitalist society, where making money to advance yourself and the country has become a way of life, and it has succeeded.

When people become fearful about China growing, and how it is affecting us, they should see it as an opportunity. There is no mistake that our economies are intertwined. This will only grow in the near future. So, in a sense, their growth is also our growth. Their hardworking skills and huge population are bringing us low prices and helping our companies stay profitable. As a consumer society we get good quality goods that help our way of life and as they grow richer, they buy things from the US which in turn makes us richer.

Finally, one thing we must keep in mind is that China is a superpower that is growing in strength. We should use this to our advantage. If we were to cut China off from our economy, we would lose money, opportunities, and they chance to have one of the fastest growing superpowers to be our complete ally. We need to have China on our side to stay competitive in the global marketplace and gain neutrality on the world stage. We should embrace China as it grows and benefit from their success as well as our own.

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