China is a trade cheat, and President Trump is right to say so. As I argue in my latest Bloomberg column, the president is also right to attempt aggressive action to stop China from forcing U.S. firms to transfer technology to Chinese firms as a condition of accessing China’s market. Indeed, more aggressive action on this front is overdue.
Unfortunately, the administration’s focus on China comes in the context of its broader tariff proposals. By conflating economically illiterate protectionism with sensible measures designed to target China’s specific intellectual-property shenanigans, the administration is undermining its own effectiveness.
The administration’s broader goal of using economic policy to help the working class — including those displaced by global trade — is also laudable. But here again, the strategy they are pursuing is a disservice to the goal. Instead of attempting to help workers through trade policy — which won’t be successful — the administration should be aggressively pushing policies to increase skills and earnings, tear down onerous labor-market regulations, and expand opportunity.
I flesh these arguments out in more detail over at Bloomberg, but the bottom line is simple: Good goals are good, but they need to be pursued effectively.
The president should be commended for shining a bright light on the challenges facing American workers and U.S. firms trying to do business in China. But now he needs to deliver for them.