China Is Number One Exporter to the World

[Guest Liam]

On this day in 580, the Chinese invented toilet paper. This confirms my belief that everything is, indeed, made in China.

 

We want our cake and eat it too, but when we can't, we cry like a baby.

[Guest NIA]

Inflation Video 'The Day the Dollar Died' Goes Viral

 

On Wednesday, November 24th, the National Inflation Association released a shocking and stunning video entitled, 'The Day the Dollar Died', which shows the world exactly what could happen to the U.S. economy in the very near future during the first 12 hours of a U.S. dollar collapse. Although the video itself is fictional, NIA believes a U.S. dollar collapse is inevitable and there is a strong likelihood that the U.S. will experience an outbreak of hyperinflation this decade. 'The Day the Dollar Died' is a wake up call for Americans who aren't yet stocking up on gold, silver and food supplies. The U.S. dollar's day of reckoning is coming and only Americans who prepare now will survive.

 

In just 42 hours since its release, 'The Day the Dollar Died' has already been viewed over 145,000 times on YouTube. It is currently YouTube's #1 top favorited news and politics video. Approximately 1,200 people have commented about the video on YouTube alone, with thousands of more comments having been made about the video on hundreds of Internet blogs that have featured it. An amazing 93.5% of those who have watched 'The Day the Dollar Died' have given it a thumbs up.

 

All of the discussion about 'The Day the Dollar Died' comes hot on the heels of NIA's October 31st release of its latest critically acclaimed full length documentary 'End of Liberty', which shows how Americans are rapidly losing their liberties and freedoms, and how our country is headed for a complete societal collapse. 'End of Liberty' has already received about 1/2 million views in less than one month.

 

On November 5th, NIA released a report with its projections for future U.S. food prices based on the recently announced $600 billion in quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve. Several days later, NIA's food inflation report was featured live on Fox News by Glenn Beck, who was recently ranked by Newsweek as the #2 most influential political figure in the country. On November 12th, NIA's President Gerard Adams was a guest on the Fox Business Network, where he spoke about the potential for food inflation to take over as America's biggest crisis in 2011.

 

NIA is not a political organization and does not support Republicans or Democrats. NIA exists solely for the purpose of educating Americans to the truth about the U.S. economy and inflation. Americans live in a country where 99% of those who studied economics in college were taught voodoo Keynesian economics.

 

Keynesian economists have the mistaken belief that all recessions are bad and must be suppressed by government interference in the free market. They believe that by the Federal Reserve manipulating interest rates to artificially low levels and printing trillions of dollars of fiat money out of thin air, they can create jobs, economic growth, and wealth. They believe that a little bit of inflation is good for an economy.

 

Keynesian economists fail to realize that when price inflation breaks out, it becomes impossible to contain unless interest rates are immediately raised to a level that is higher than the real rate of price inflation. Unfortunately, due to the current size and scope of our national debt and unfunded liabilities, NIA believes it will be impossible for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates higher than the real rate of inflation. Real interest rates are likely to stay negative until the U.S. dollar collapses and is officially declared dead and worthless.

 

Gas and grocery bills for all Americans have been rising substantially in recent months. The average American has been seeing health insurance costs spiral out of control on an annual basis. Students have been suffering from college tuitions rising like there is no tomorrow. Massive price inflation is all around us, yet the mainstream media continues to ignore the truth and reports the government's phony CPI numbers as gospel.

 

Politicians in Washington from both sides of the aisle have been colluding with the media in order to brainwash Americans into believing inflation is not a problem and that their real fear should be deflation. Deflation is a good thing for middle class Americans because it means their money is worth more and their incomes and savings have more purchasing power. Inflation is only good for the politicians because it allows them to steal the wealth of middle class Americans and redistribute it to their banker friends on Wall Street who don't produce anything of real value.

 

There is no reason for a lawyer or banker to make more money than a farmer or factory worker. This is only made possible by the system we have today, where Americans get suckered into electing representatives who promise entitlements that the government can't afford without printing the money to pay for them. When the dollar bubble bursts and the system collapses, the free market will allow farmers and goods producers to become wealthy while lawyers and bankers go broke.

 

Most Americans are naive enough to believe that because the U.S. has survived for so long with such a huge national debt and continuous budget deficits, the country will be able to continue down this path forever without any consequences because after all, this is America we are talking about. The truth is, our national debt has grown by 70.7% over the past five years, compared to 41.8% during the previous five years, and 14.3% during the five years before that. Meanwhile, our GDP has grown by 17.9% over the past five years, compared to 27.5% during the previous five years, and 32.9% during the five years before that. We have gone from our GDP growing more than twice as fast as our debt, to our debt growing at nearly quadruple the speed of our GDP. A train wreck is getting ready to happen and this train wreck is literally unstoppable.

 

[Guest Liam]

China is creating a new bulging middle class estimated to be 100 million to 150 million today. That number is expected to DOUBLE by 2015.

 

These "chuppies," or Chinese yuppies, are educated and have money burning holes in their pockets. As a result, Chinese consumption is estimated to increase by a whopping 18% a year over the next decade.

[Guest Richard B. Spurgeon]

We just spent two and a half months in Europe and we never saw the Made in China label. In fact, some of the businesses were very put out when we asked if they sold items from China.

 

It was not until we arrived in Germany at Ramstein U.S. Air Force Base that we discovered the all-to-familiar label Made in China.

 

People seem to forget that China is a communist country and every dollar spent on an item made in China only helps to further communism and put an American out of work. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why our people are unemployed, when so much of what we buy is made in another country.

 

Having spent more than 30 years of my life in the U.S. military, I am very disappointed when I see the Made in China label in a U.S. military Base Exchange.

[Luke_Wilbur]

My friend now makes toys in China. He tells me they are much more festive with Christmas there. It is hard for me to believe. But, it could be true. I do not think he would he lie to me. News media stories say they oppress human rights and religion. The only conclusion I have is that they celebrate the Chinese New Year.

 

What gets me is American companies that deliberately lie about there products being made in the USA and they are not.

 

Take the latest GAP story.

 

http://www.brandchan...e-In-China.aspx

 

How does our government let them get away with stating their goods are made in the United States. They deliberately misinformed the consumer to buy their goods.

 

Edited December 18, 2010 by Luke_Wilbur

[Guest Fedup]

The Chinese are celebrating selling their junk to us.

[Guest Soldier of God]

The Lord does not teach us to hate. But help our brothers in sisters in need. There is an estimated 100 million Christians in China. I pray to Lord to give them strength to persevere in creating a nation of peace.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8224841/Christians-celebrate-Christmas-against-the-odds-in-China.html

[Guest Buckeye]

I think a good kick our butt is in order. Even Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) said that we’ve become a nation of wusses.

 

From ESPN.com:

 

“It goes against everything that football is all about,” Rendell said Monday on radio station 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia.

 

“My biggest beef is that this is part of what’s happened in this country,” Rendell said. “I think we’ve become wussies.”

 

“We’ve become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything,” Rendell added. “If this was in China do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down.”

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5960674

[Guest Bert]

What the hell is wrong with country. When did our sorry asses start looking up to communist. To many weak individuals running our economy. It bothers me to even read this.

[Guest texas5]

The NFL owners represent everything wrong with us. Everything that I purchase from the NFL is chinese made. The beer is no longer American. They are turning us into a faux patriotic nation. Our American spirit is becoming a brand name only.

[Guest Miffed]

I was bummed when I heard that Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, China's No 10 automaker, sealed a deal in March to buy ailing Swedish luxury car brand Volvo from Ford for $1.8 billion.

[Guest Fedup]

It gets worse. China Huaneng Group payed $1.23 billion to acquire a 50 percent stake in Massachusetts-based power utility InterGen. And China Pacific Century Motors (PCM) acquired all shares of GM's steering-parts manufacturing unit. Too bad this is not a monopoly board game that can be played over.

[Guest New Century China]

BUILDING U.S. JOBS BY LEVERAGING CHINA'S GROWTH

 

We face a challenging year ahead in U.S.-China relations. Ten percent U.S. unemployment coupled with our huge trade deficit with China, China's increasing use of industrial policies to restrict market access, and an undervalued RMB, will bring greater tension to bilateral ties. The Google case adds fuel to the fire. In this context, it is critical that we find ways to better advance our bilateral economic policy. This will require sustained, focused interaction on a daily basis with the Chinese, but also serious thinking about what can best be accomplished in the run-up to and at key meetings like the S&ED and JCCT. We need to find ways to keep the relationship positive, but even more important to ensure the American worker, in particular, reaps the benefits of our bilateral economic engagement.

 

Below are some ideas on how we can move ahead on a concerted, targeted U.S. effort to boost U.S. job-creating exports of goods and services to China as well as increased job-creating Chinese investment and tourism to the United States. While we will continue to aggressively negotiate removal of Chinese barriers, we will need as well to get Chinese buy-in to several job-boosting initiatives. There are even things we can do ourselves unilaterally. Taken together, measures would include:

 

- expanding sector-specific public private partnerships,

 

- offering SMEs China-specific support,

 

- building or retooling existing export promotion mechanisms,

 

- making educational offerings in the U.S. more attractive (and in the process giving new generations of Chinese a reason for wanting to be in the U.S. market),

 

- increasing pull factors for Chinese tourism to and investment in the U.S., and

 

- enhancing the use of the Internet and other electronic means of communication in Chinese.

 

We are aware that in a resource constrained environment, some of these will cost money, but we judge that the benefits will outweigh the costs and have a significant job-creating component. Some suggestions may be more palatable than others, and costs will vary widely, but we emphasize again that the potential benefits of each are substantial. Of course we need to do a better job in helping Americans understand that the China trade relationship can actually be a good story for U.S. jobs and pay dividends far beyond the trade sector. One final note: we accent the positive here in terms of what we can do but we certainly do not neglect that the continuing need to use available trade remedies and WTO consistent retaliatory action to ensure fairness and transparency.

 

A ROUGH YEAR AHEAD, BUT OPPORTUNITIES ARE ENORMOUS

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Strong Chinese economic and export growth coupled with an artificially undervalued RMB will further heighten focus on our huge trade deficit with China. Widespread perceptions that China,s industrial policies are rolling back market access add to the overall sense that China plays unfairly in the global marketplace. Other emerging issues, like Google,s problems and new rules on indigenous innovation, create a drumbeat of bad news stories for firms seeking to do business in China. And as backdrop, the Chinese continue to signal intense displeasure with U.S. positions on issues from the Dalai Lama to Taiwan arms sales and Internet freedom, which they then cite as reasons why they may not cooperate with the U.S. on other issues.

 

Yet, with ten percent U.S. unemployment, more than ever before we must ensure that our relations with China continue to pay real dividends — especially in creating jobs for Americans. China is the world's fastest growing major economy and should be providing opportunities for U.S. goods and services exports. Chinese companies, thanks to government-backed loans, monopolies and preferential treatment, are awash in cash and should be a source for investment in the U.S. economy — investment that would help maintain and create jobs in the U.S. And, China,s rapidly growing middle and upper classes, while still only representing a fraction of its population, measure many tens of millions. They should provide an enormous pool of potential consumers of U.S. goods and services as well as tourism and education in the U.S.

 

Virtually every major U.S. company has a presence in China. They recognize the potential and are trying hard to work around the obstacles to market access that China erects. For many of them, China was their sole profit-center during last year's global economic downturn. However, for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are the engine of job creation in the United States, exporting to or doing business in China is still a daunting prospect. Overt market access barriers and regulatory constraints at the national and sub-national level increasingly and blatantly tilt the playing field to Chinese companies' advantage. Chinese policies make it difficult to succeed in its market unless you establish a local presence, including production, something for which SMEs generally have neither the capital nor expertise. The opacity of China's legal and regulatory systems and widespread official corruption also serve as barriers to U.S. businesses — especially SMEs — seeking to export to, or invest in, China. The lack of effective IPR protection, import-substitution policies, standards discriminate against foreign products and create obstacles to licensing of technology, and central and provincial/local government incentives to "buy local," additionally skew the playing field against foreign firms.

 

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: PERCEPTIONS OF U.S. DISINCENTIVES TO TRAVEL, INVESTMENT

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Many in China perceive the U.S. as "closed" to Chinese and Chinese companies. Chinese businesspersons looking at investment opportunities around the globe are confused and intimidated by the different investment regulations and promotional activities in the fifty U.S. states. Businesspersons, potential tourists and students remain confused by U.S. visa regulations and, particularly in contrasting them with those of our competitors in Japan and Europe, perceive them as more restrictive than they actually are, even seeing them as "hostile" to Chinese travelers. Many Chinese and some U.S. firms complain that U.S. export controls are out-dated and costing us business as Chinese buyers travel to Europe to buy the same goods or services they cannot buy from American suppliers.

JOB-BOOSTING APPROACHES: PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

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There are no easy solutions to many of these challenges. However, we offer a range of possible initiatives and policy measures for interagency consideration that could help advance our efforts to maximize job-creating benefits from our relations with China. The proposals we

offer below include ones that would require Chinese buy in as well as some that the U.S. could initiate unilaterally. They are not exhaustive nor are they intended to substitute for continued aggressive negotiation of market access, but instead are meant to provide additional complementary actions to enhance our economic relations and achieve greater benefits for the American people.

 

WIELDING STICKS

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Recent issues related to indigenous innovation, express delivery and on-line music content, for example, underscore that USG complaints about discriminatory policies - absent a credible threat of retaliatory action or other leverage — are falling on increasingly deaf Chinese ears. China's relatively strong economic position in the wake of the global financial crisis has intensified that trend. As has Chinese hubris that it can call the shots and determine the playbook under which it operates without disclosing the same to foreign firms. While WTO dispute settlement has worked well when applied, many of the problems we face in China,s market do not fall within WTO disciplines. We may want to consider ways to toughen up our talking points and enhance the use — or perception of likely use — of other real "sticks" in order to achieve market opening, job-creating objectives. This will require some consideration of just how much disruption in our economic relations we are willing to countenance if we must carry through on threats.

FOCUS OUR ENGAGEMENT ON JOBS

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Given current U.S. unemployment levels we suggest the interagency prioritize our objectives over the next year on those areas most likely to create jobs in the U.S. In particular, we suggest:

 

– AN OVERARCHING FOCUS ON OPENING CHINESE MARKETS TO EXPORTS OF U.S. SERVICES in all of the key U.S.-China bilateral economic fora in 2010, including the S&ED and JCCT. For example, a strong push to eliminate joint venture requirements in select services sectors could be negotiated in exchange for a Chinese-sought concession.

 

– PRIORITIZE OUR "ASKS" OF CHINA ON GOODS SECTORS THAT HAVE HIGHEST JOB-CREATION POTENTIAL AND STRONG CHINESE GROWTH POTENTIAL, and intensify our advocacy in these areas through the methods outlined below.

BANG FOR THE BUCK: INCREASE AND DIVERSIFY EXPORT PROMOTION

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Since 2005, very conservative estimates show that U.S. exports of goods to China created 285,000 jobs in the United States. In that same period, every dollar of funding for export promotion activities facilitated an average of 617 dollars in exports to China. While many of the programs listed below would require either a shift in or new funding, those investments would quickly payoff. To increase U.S. exports to China in the near and medium term, it is essential that we expand and enhance existing export promotion programs, including:

 

– EXPAND SECTOR-SPECIFIC PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS. For example, the highly successful Aviation Cooperation Program, or ACP, was founded with support from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). It now has over 40 corporate members, sponsored training for over 100 Chinese aviation professionals, and has introduced U.S. firms and technology throughout China's aviation industry and regulatory structure. USG participation has helped U.S. firms build relationships with local officials that are crucial to doing business here. Likewise, an Energy Cooperation Program was established in 2009 along these same lines and healthcare is a strong candidate for immediate consideration for a similar new partnership.

 

– OFFER SMEs INCENTIVES TO TEST NEW MARKETS HERE. Japan, Korea, and Germany offer SMEs loans or subsidies to offset costs of travel, trade show participation, market entry, and business matchmaking. They help companies develop procurement strategies to be more price competitive. Such measures are currently proscribed under the U.S. system.

 

– TELL THE STATES WE ARE READY TO HELP: Present at Annual Governor's Association meeting and other state venues on Mission services to help their states connect to counterparts in China.

 

– ESTABLISH FEDERAL AND/OR STATE-LEVEL INCUBATOR PROGRAMS, which help companies during market entry by Leveraging public-private partnerships to support new exporters. The German government partners with the German Chamber of Commerce in supporting the German Center Beijing. For start-up companies, the Center offers office space, conference facilities, in-depth counseling and practical advice from lawyers, accountants and market and sales professionals. In-house service providers assist German companies with a full range of services helping them compete. By developing public-private partnerships that join business expertise and government assistance, the USG could offer comparable one-stop service to U.S. companies to help level the playing field with competitors.

 

– DUPLICATE THE "COOPERATOR" PROGRAMS of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in other sectors. FAS spends $25 million annually on cooperator programs in China to help companies create, expand and maintain long-term export markets for U.S. agricultural products. Those funds are matched by industry. TDA funds might help.

 

– FURTHER EXPAND FCS ACTIVITY IN CHINA, one of the most effective ways to spur export promotion. This will have a big bang for the buck in terms of across-the-board commercial outreach.

 

– FUND THE HIRING OF FCS EXPORT-PROMOTION CONTRACTORS IN THE 14 CHINESE SECOND-TIER CITIES that have been identified by Commerce as having the best U.S. export opportunities (these 14 cities, each of which has a population in excess of one million, currently receive 53% of all U.S. exports to China).

 

– CAPITALIZE ON CHINESE OUTWARD DIRECT INVESTMENT TO THIRD COUNTRIES. For example, the Embassy could organize match-making events to introduce U.S. upstream design and managerial services firms to Chinese design/build firms that have contracts for infrastructure projects using PRC concessional loans in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

 

– SEEK TO REDUCE U.S. EXPORT CONTROLS ON SALES OF JOB-CREATING TECHNOLOGIES that are readily available from our allied competitors (semiconductors manufacturing equipment, microwave chambers, composite prepregs). We know that there is an ongoing discuss about export controls in the U.S. and well recognize the national security implications of how we view export controls.

 

ENCOURAGE CHINESE INVESTMENT IN THE U.S.

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Apart from misperceptions of an unwelcoming political Environment and periodic complaints that key high tech investments are denied routinely due to CFIUS concerns, Chinese companies view the U.S. economy as an attractive investment destination. Dispelling harmful myths and actively promoting direct Chinese investment would help us capture a larger share of China,s rapidly growing ODI levels (PRC ODI to the world roughly doubled from $27 billion in 2007 to $56 billion in 2008), which in turn would create more U.S. jobs. In this regard, the following steps should be considered:

 

– THE INTERNET. We should create many more Chinese language websites that are directed at key secondary and tertiary cities in China. The more we facilitate access to information about American business opportunities — whether through a national database or enhanced state and local databases — the better. We believe thinking local, start-ups and grassroots first is the preferable way to go in using the Internet

 

– ENHANCE THE ADMINISTRATION'S INVEST IN AMERICA PROGRAM. Other countries have national promotion programs that work with Chinese companies to help them identify industry clusters or target locations based on their criteria.

 

– DIRECT FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPORT STATE INVESTMENT-SPONSORED BUYING OR INVESTMENT MISSIONS originating in China.

 

– ADD INVESTMENT PROMOTION TO THE AGENDA OF VISITING CABINET AND OTHER HIGH-LEVEL OFFICIALS (conduct roundtables with influential Chinese business leaders who could move substantial investment to the United States).

 

– CONDUCT A PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CAMPAIGN to erase misperceptions about the scope of CFIUS restraints, including use of existing bilateral fora like the S&ED, Investment Forum, and JCCT and "investment missions" to provincial capitals and second-tier cities.

 

– EXTEND THE VALIDITY OF U.S. B-1/B-2 visas for Chinese travelers.

 

EXPANDING TOURISM AND EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL

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A fundamental Chinese misperception that our doors are closed constrains growth in Chinese travel to the U.S. across a wide range of categories, as does the confusing diversity of state-level programs on tourism and education. A rich and sustained effort to overcome these factors could pay rapid and substantial job-creating dividends. We need to create a buzz in the street that travel to America for business for other reasons is actually pretty easy. And that traveling in America is generally easy and without restrictions. We propose the U.S. consider:

 

– ESTABLISH A CHINA-SPECIFIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM AUTHORITY.

 

A national body to encourage the rapidly growing pool of Chinese tourists to spend leisure time in the U.S. could accelerate growth in individual travel and boost group travel. Local U.S. tourism offices need help understanding what attracts Chinese visitors.

 

– DUPLICATE IN OTHER FIRST-TIER CHINESE CITIES THE NATIONAL TOURISM ASSOCIATION (NTA) program office that was created in DOC,s Shanghai Commercial Center (NTA received a supporting Market Cooperator Grant).

 

– INCREASE THE FREQUENCY OF OUTREACH PROGRAMS to educate Chinese public on the visa process, including intense public diplomacy through media channels. The more visitors, the more money they will spend and we enhanced "see America" program will create good service sector related jobs in the travel and tourism industry.

 

– SEEK TO EXTEND VISA RECIPROCITY FROM ONE TO FIVE YEARS IN ALL VISA CATEGORIES. The Embassy has just negotiated the extension of visa reciprocity for select categories to five years. Expanding this to all visa categories would dramatically help promote U.S. openness to legitimate travel. (By contrast, U.S. visa reciprocity with Thailand is ten years.)

 

– EXPAND STATE,S EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS INITIATIVES to provide student advising and enhance student mobility between the U.S. and China as well as to support American universities, professional and technical training efforts to bring more Chinese adult students to the United States for training. It is notable that the number of Chinese in the United States for non-university education has nearly doubled in the last few years, demonstrating that U.S. education services are sought by Chinese and are an industry in which jobs could be created.

 

– EXPAND FEDERAL DIRECTION AND SUPPORT TO PROMOTE community and state college recruitment of Chinese graduate and undergraduate students.

 

– WORK TO CHANGE CHINESE PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF UNIVERSITY RANKINGS and promote enrollment in a broader range of U.S. institutions.

 

DANGLING CARROTS

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Where China is already seeking assistance from us or encouraging investment, we should capitalize on that interest for job promotion. For example:

 

– ADVERTISE MORE EFFECTIVELY FOREIGN-FRIENDLY INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN CHINA, especially those that are already with PRC encouragement and which are tied to follow-on U.S. goods exports (current examples include mining and logistics management).

 

– IDENTIFY AND REDUCE USG-CREATED BARRIERS TO GROWTH IN THOSE SECTORS WITH THE MOST POTENTIAL IN CHINA. Green technologies is the most potent example. U.S. subsidies to R&D in green technologies, specifically solar panels, expire biannually. That unpredictability stymies long-term R&D by U.S. companies in the field, a detriment to their competitiveness in the industry. Establishing a long-term program for R&D would increase U.S. competitiveness.

 

– LEVERAGE CHINESE INTEREST IN TECHNICAL EXCHANGES WITH EPA, FDA AND OTHER REGULATORY AGENCIES to extract specific commitments on expanded market opportunities for U.S.-based services in related fields, consistent with U.S. health and safety interests.

 

– RE-EXAMINE EXPORT CONTROLS ON COMMERCIALLY-IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY being made available to China by allied competitors (i.e. semiconductor manufacturing equipment; aviation; EMC and microwave chambers).

[Guest BCerentano]

If Americans wait for the politicians or Corporate America to fix the problem, we’ll become a third world country. We will become an economic weakling with a decayed military (much like the Soviet Union). The only way to fix it is for the people to take control. Join AmericanBoycott.com