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b_b  ·  3469 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why China has the upper hand in the South China Sea

The article makes some good points, but the fact that he opens with this makes me skeptical of his overall claims:

    Washington’s failure in recent years to keep careful watch over what goods are made where — especially when it comes to such vital items as electronics and drugs — means the United States now depends far more on China than vice versa.

China imports something from the US that they can't get elsewhere also: Dollars. Lots of them. They need dollars as much as we need their manufactured goods. That the author ignores this point makes me think he's trying to advance an agenda more so than write an analysis.

That said, his point is well taken about diversifying our import base. We can't really impose strict trade limits, but we could certainly incentivize other countries to produce goods that come exclusively from China. I think that electronics will take care of themselves, however. As other SE Asian nations become competitive manufacturers, production will move at the whims of labor costs.