Christopher A. McNally
Professor of Political Economy, Chaminade University
Sep 19, 2017
It seems as if U.S. President Donald Trump is intent on perpetrating a dangerous fallacy: to impose tariffs on American imports to lower the trade deficit. These moves are coming despite the fact that the most prominent critic of China’s trade practices in the U.S. administration, Steven Bannon, has left the White House. Why is the Trump administration so enamored by tariffs, a trade policy more commonly employed a hundred years ago?
Jun 09, 2017
Outcomes fromU.S.-China trade talks that were recently announced ignored the major structural issues facing U.S.-China economic relations. While a trade deal was produced, the major point of contention between the two countries, that they practice deeply divergent forms of capitalism, was ignored. In order to truly make progress on trade between the U.S. and China mutual understanding of the different dynamics driving the two forms of capitalism is needed.
May 24, 2017
The Mar-a-Lago meeting between presidents Trump and Xi has started to generate concrete results, the recently announced trade agreement between the countries shows. However, the transactional approach risks leading to an impasse; it needs to be buttressed by more fundamental deals, such as the US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Apr 19, 2017
Why has there been such a tidal change in the U.S.-Russia-China strategic triangle? The reason is simple: the United States and China are deeply enmeshed over a broad spectrum of politico-economic relations. Russia, on the other hand, is a straight forward strategic competitor and, within the international economic order, by and large a natural resource exporter.
Mar 30, 2017
As President Trump and President Xi prepare to meet in the near future, the current environment makes it unrealistic to expect any breakthroughs in bilateral relations. The sheer complexity of US-China relations, widely differing viewpoints, and the unsettled policy approach by the new U.S. administration make the willingness to meet and talk already an advance.
Nov 22, 2016
The combined effects of globalization and technological change caused “deindustrialization” across a wide swath of the United States. Deindustrialization is responsible for making good paying manufacturing jobs requiring low to medium skills scarce, eviscerating the middle class in certain regions, and stoking political resentment—a major issue for workers both in the U.S. and China.
Oct 20, 2016
The critical U.S. presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton not only matters for China-U.S. relations, but also reflects how a new and potent form of isolationism is on the rise globally. Deep economic and cultural fissures are developing between those who can take advantage of globalization and those who lack the resources and skills to do so.