US think tank urges continued US-China engagement for global benefit

SAN FRANCISCO - The growing cooperation between China and the United States will benefit not only the two countries but the rest of the world, said a leading think tank based here.

In a report released this month and titled "Reconsidering US-China Economic Relations -- the Way Forward," the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, which focuses on critical economic and policy issues impacting the metropolitan region surrounding the San Francisco Bay, addressed a wide range of issues between the world's two largest economies.

The report acknowledged the existing difficulties in US-China relations, particularly their trade differences and tariff dispute initiated by the current US administration.

However, the present US-China stalemate is not unbreakable, and their differences in many areas are not irreconcilable, stressed the report, authored by Sean Randolph, the institute's senior director.

"In 2019, the United States and China marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Since that time, the relationship has seen growing economic integration," said the report.

The United States and China have cooperated on a range of global issues, and trade and investment in both directions have grown over the past decades, noted the report.

Both governments have the power to stabilize their relationship and place it on a new footing, said the report, adding that they can continue their trade dialogue and narrow their differences "through a clearer understanding around how trade and its benefits are measured."

Noting the two countries have been locked in trade disputes over the past year, which has negatively affected both economies and trade, the report suggested that the US government limit the imposition of new tariffs against China and remove some existing ones in return for reciprocal measures from the Chinese side.

The institute said it questions the US government's attempt to use tariffs as a tool to extract negotiating concessions, which would only raise economic costs and "feed nationalism" at home.

The report said the federal government should "encourage and assist" US companies to participate in the annual China International Import Expo as China's growing market continues to offer opportunities, particularly in fields of climate, clean technology, health care, clean water and food safety.

Both countries as well as the whole world will benefit "if China and the United States continue to grow together and not apart," concluded the report.