Wang Huiyao: In a globalised world, the US and China must build bridges, not walls
May 08 , 2025From SCMP， 2025-5-8
■ Far from being a victim, the US has been a beneficiary of globalisation. It must abandon zero-sum thinking and focus on its comparative strengths.
By Wang Huiyao | Founder of the Center for China and Globalization(CCG)
In recent years there has been a troubling resurgence of unilateral measures – tariffs, sanctions and such.
On April 2, the US unleashed the newest wave of trade protectionism, which is already having real impacts. Even Europe, traditionally a key US ally, has felt the erosion of trust that underpins multilateral cooperation, as market uncertainty intensifies.
Amid this turbulence, one fact remains constant: China and the United States, as the world’s two largest economies, have a shared responsibility to lead the way towards global stability, prosperity and peace.
At the core of the US’ renewed turn towards unilateral trade measures is a fundamental misunderstanding of trade. The Trump administration remains fixated on bilateral goods trade deficits as a measure of national decline, but this ignores the basic structure of the US economy.
In 2024, the US recorded a services trade surplus of nearly US$300 billion, and this excludes contributions by branches of US multinationals abroad. Moreover, advantages like the seigniorage earned from issuing dollar notes, overseas investment returns and the capacity to attract global talent – about 60 per cent of Nobel laureates work in the US, for example – reflect the US’ privileged position in the international system.
Far from being a victim of globalisation, the United States has been one of its greatest beneficiaries. In truth, the only area where the US runs a consistent trade deficit is goods – and this was never an accident.
America made a deliberate shift towards a service-driven, hi-tech economy. It moved away from low-margin, labour-intensive and often polluting industries towards sectors that are cleaner, more profitable and globally dominant.
The US leads the world in education, advanced technology, biosciences, the digital economy and artificial intelligence (AI). The US mustn’t become the winner that takes all, including labour-intensive industries. To now treat its shift as a failure is to rewrite decades of economic policy.
Recent efforts to reverse globalisation by imposing tariffs and promoting reshoring have not yielded the intended results. Instead, they have disrupted finely tuned global value chains, increased costs and undermined economic resilience – particularly harming developing economies.
Southeast Asia’s export sectors and Africa’s raw material industries have been hit hard, exacerbating inequality and slowing global recovery for no benefit. US workers will not flock to low-prospect jobs, while prices will rise for US consumers as a result of inflammatory policy.
History offers a sobering lesson. Under the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, global trade plunged by about 60 per cent, contributing to the Great Depression. More recently, tariffs imposed on Chinese goods in 2018 caused American consumers to pay an additional US$51 billion annually. Today, the US share of global merchandise imports has fallen from nearly 20 per cent two decades ago to just 13 per cent, suggesting that protectionism does not reverse globalisation, but simply sidelines those who pursue it.
The resilience of global trade is evident from the creation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the African Continental Free Trade Area, as well as the growing influence of the nations in the Brics grouping. China has also set zero tariffs for more than 40 of the world’s least developed countries.
There is a path forward for the US. Rather than clinging to outdated zero-sum thinking, Washington can reassert its leadership by reinvesting in its comparative strengths: innovation, services and the hi-tech industry.
It should refocus its trade policy on forging new multilateral frameworks, reviving its role within the World Trade Organization, and enhancing collaboration on digital governance, green technology and cross-border investment. Domestically, supporting workforce upskilling, modernising infrastructure and attracting international talent would do far more to strengthen long-term competitiveness than tariff barriers ever could.
Even now there are strong foundations for constructive US-China engagement and multilateral cooperation. On issues from Ukraine and Palestine to climate change, AI and global health, the two nations have overlapping interests and there is enormous potential for cooperation.
The US should choose to return to multilateralism. Mutual investment could serve as a starting point, similar to the Japanese investment in the US during the 1980s. Chinese solar equipment maker Longi’s investment in a plant in the US is just one example.
China is open to discussions on equal terms; cooperation cannot be coerced. The US must choose engagement over attempts to browbeat its partners and allies. Here, past experience offers hope. Following increased US-China cooperation during the Biden administration, synthetic opioid deaths in the US fell 33 per cent in the 12 months ending October 2024. Opportunities exist for similar collaboration across a range of global challenges.
A stable US-China relationship is not merely beneficial to both countries – it is foundational for global peace. As US President Donald Trump himself remarked in December, “China and the United States can together solve all of the problems of the world”. But achieving that requires not threats and tariffs, but mutual respect, open dialogue and a shared commitment to a better future.
The United States risks isolating itself if it continues to approach trade and global leadership through a lens of confrontation. Countries around the world – from Germany and Japan to those in the Global South – seek partners committed to stability, openness and mutual benefit.
Trump has promised to “make America great again”. But tariffs alone will not achieve that. True greatness lies in building bridges, not walls. Trade is not a zero-sum weapon; it is a tool for shared prosperity. As the world faces unprecedented challenges, China and the United States must lead together – not apart – for the sake of all humanity.
From SCMP， 2025-5-8
