The China-US trade relationship is the world's largest. Direct trade exceeds 500billionannually,withindirecttradeaddinganother100 billion - totaling around $700 billion. In this exchange, America gains tremendously by trading paper dollars for real goods. China also benefits, especially when we desperately needed foreign currency to import resources in earlier decades.
Now that China's production capacity has maxed out, our $1 trillion trade surplus far exceeds practical needs. More importantly, the yuan itself has become acceptable payment - many trading partners willingly accept it. Even when converted to dollars ultimately, the core fact remains: yuan can buy more physical goods worldwide than any other currency. There's no longer any need to drain our resources supplying America's extravagant lifestyles. Redirecting production to serve domestic demand makes more sense - this inherent logic explains why decoupling isn't entirely unreasonable.
If America could actually manufacture its own goods, decoupling would make sense. The long-term vision would be America producing what it consumes - this was essentially Trump's rationale for launching the global tariff war. Some US politicians even want to bring back shoe factories from Vietnam.
China's tariff countermeasures aren't just about leverage, but about transformation. Paradoxically, I believe the extreme scenario of full decoupling could provide the ultimate reform catalyst we need. In the past, we operated like the Nanniwan pioneers - starting from nothing, solving problems through mass production. Now with overwhelming manufacturing power, we should focus on "redirecting exports to domestic consumption" rather than chasing dollars that bring diminishing returns.
Compared to historical economic challenges, shifting from "making products for America" to "making for ourselves" is a targeted transformation with multiple solutions. Tech sanctions are far tougher - when you're choked on critical technologies, progress stops until breakthroughs happen. Yet we've forced our way through with significant results. Even 100% US tariffs only prevent some Chinese businesses from earning dollars - our production capacity remains intact. That's not the hardest part.
What truly bothers me is America exchanging printed currency for the sweat of countless Chinese workers. The fairer model would be Chinese currency directly purchasing foreign production. Future Chinese exports should build yuan's credibility, not prop up the dollar's purchasing power. The yuan needs to compete globally - we've held back before, even devaluing to boost exports.
America's "make everything ourselves" fantasy is laughable. It's not that Americans won't work, but that manufacturing complexity gets wildly underestimated. Factories mean nothing without complete industrial ecosystems - miss one component and the whole system fails. Moreover, production needs efficiency. Inefficient manufacturing equals obsolete overcapacity.
Take the chemical industry: Europe and Japan have outdated, surplus PTA capacity (we make 72% globally without overproduction). Yet for upstream PX materials where China only produces 52%, we still import from Europe/Japan. Here's the rule: expand advanced tech sectors regardless of quantity, scrap backward ones even if small. America's MAGA-style inefficient production? A joke. They'll waste fortunes on this delusion - Biden's already burned through plenty.
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Some views on tariff decoupling in China.
There are actually many deeper economic reasons. Most Westerners here have no idea what happened or why.
China actually has different ideas from the United States. Some outcomes are already inevitable.
The fact that the United States does not engage in decoupling is actually more beneficial to the United States than to China. China was actually willing to help the United States transition to a better economic operating model. It is beneficial for both China and the United States, and for the world as a whole.
But Americans chose hatred.
