Can China bring jobs back to America? Yes and maybe
Overlapping forums this week on investing in the US and selling goods online to Chinese consumers highlight benefits and challenges presented by ties
The difference between hi-tech and traditional finance came into focus as Alibaba chief Jack Ma and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross headlined overlapping conferences in the US.
Both events aimed to leverage the US-China economic and trade relationship to support American jobs, but the optics couldn’t have been more different. Alibaba’s “Gateway ’17” in Detroit, opened before a crowd of 3,000, which was treated to a performance of drummers festooned in high-tech lighting, moving through the air with the help of invisible wire.
In Washington, an equally large audience was welcomed with a traditional military colour guard drumming out the US national anthem at the government’s SelectUSA investment conference.
The objectives of both events resonate in the United States, where allegations that politicians sold out American workers by offshoring production to China dominated political discourse in the run-up to the country’s 2016 presidential election. Many analysts cited then-candidate Donald Trump’s harsh anti-Beijing rhetoric as a reason for his victory.
Swamped by investigations into White House connections with Russia and unable to deliver on policy promises such as health care reform, Trump needs evidence that relations with China will start fuelling US job growth. He dropped his harsh tone against Beijing and hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida just two months into his term.