Larry, possibly the most important point to make to the president is that engagement with China has worked.
Past negotiations with China haven't led to perfect results, but have opened their markets enough that our exports rose by close to 600 percent since Beijing joined the WTO 16 years ago, while the value of our agricultural shipments jumped by 1,000 percent.
We even win in the WTO! In a February report to Congress, Kevin Hassett, the chairman of President Trump's Council of Economic Advisors, wrote, “The United States gets better outcomes via formal WTO adjudication than negotiation … the United States has won 85.7 percent of the cases it has initiated before the WTO since 1995.”
Larry, I hope this letter helps you persuade the president that trade with China has benefited the vast majority of Americans, and that solutions to the challenges our firms continue to face there can be best achieved by a combination of bilateral negotiations and use of the WTO's tools. A trade war would inflict pain on American families, workers, farmers and companies, without forcing Beijing to capitulate to our demands. Larry, we are counting on you to persuade the president to follow a strategy that will keep America great.
Regards,
Andy Rothman
Andy Rothman is an investment strategist at Matthews Asia.