（四）将国内问题国际化、经贸问题政治化

　　现任美国政府基于国内政治需要，将国内问题国际化、经贸问题政治化，通过指责他国转嫁国内矛盾。

　　美国将国内政策失误和制度缺陷导致的失业问题错误归因于国际贸易。美国政府认为他国通过不公平贸易的方式抢夺了本国就业岗位，作为美国贸易逆差最大来源国，中国首当其冲成为主要的被指责对象。事实是，根据联合国数据，2001-2017年，中美贸易额增长了4.4倍，但美国失业率则从5.7%下降到4.1%。尤其是2009年以来，美国从中国进口快速增长，同期美国失业率反而呈现出持续下降的态势，美国政府指责的货物进口和失业率之间的替代关系并不存在（图12）。2017年美国国会研究中心报告显示，2010-2015年，尽管美国制造业从中国进口整体增加32.4%，美国制造业的工作机会反而增加了6.8%。

　　图表：图12：美国自中国货物进口额与美国失业率变化 新华社发

4. Internationalizing domestic issues and politicizing economic and trade issues

The current US administration, in response to domestic political issues, is choosing to internationalize domestic issues and politicize economic and trade issues, and blaming other countries for its own problems.

It has erroneously attributed unemployment caused by domestic policy and institutional flaws to international trade. The US administration has accused other countries of “stealing US jobs through unfair trade”. China, as the biggest source of the US trade deficit, is a convenient primary target. However, statistics from the United Nations show that between 2001 and 2017, China-US trade expanded by a factor of 4.4, and yet unemployment in the US dropped from 5.7 percent to 4.1 percent. In particular, while US imports from China surged from 2009 onward, unemployment in the US saw a steady decline during the same period. The causal relationship between imports of goods and job losses, as claimed by the US administration, does not exist (see Chart 12). A report from the US Congressional Research Service in 2017 reveals that between 2010 and 2015, the number of US manufacturing jobs rose by 6.8 percent even though US imports from China in that sector increased by 32.4 percent. 

Chart 12: US Imports of Goods from China and US Unemployment

Source: the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor of the United States

　　事实上，美国部分社会群体失业问题，主要是技术进步和经济结构调整背景下，国内经济政策失误和再分配、再就业机制缺失引起的。根据美国印第安纳州波尔州立大学的研究，2000-2010年期间，美国制造业工作机会减少560万个，88%是由于生产率提高导致的。在市场经济条件下，一切要素都在流动变化之中，没有永远不变的工作岗位。随着美国比较优势变化，不同行业就业情况出现差异，传统制造业等行业出现就业岗位减少，这本是经济发展和结构调整的正常现象。美国政府本应顺应经济结构调整大趋势，采取积极有效的再分配和再就业支持措施，帮助失业人员转移到新兴行业就业。但是，受制于传统的分配机制和利益格局，美国政府没有及时建立合理的再分配和再就业支持机制，导致部分社会群体的失业问题长期积累、积重难返，为政治上的民粹主义和孤立主义提供了土壤。

　　现任美国政府把失业问题归咎于国际贸易和出口国不符合事实，是在国内政治矛盾难以解决的情况下试图向外转嫁矛盾。美国如不真正解决自身的深层次结构性问题，而是通过贸易保护措施引导制造业回流，这种本末倒置、以邻为壑、逆经济规律而动的行为，只会降低全球经济效率，引发世界各国反对，损人而不利己。

In fact, unemployment of some social groups in the US is caused by flaws in domestic economic policy and the absence of proper redistribution and reemployment mechanisms against the backdrop of technological advances and economic restructuring. A study by Ball State University in the State of Indiana finds out that almost 88 percent of the 5.6 million jobs lost in manufacturing in the US between 2000 and 2010 can be attributed to productivity growth.  In a market economy where all production factors are in flux, no job lasts forever. The evolution of comparative advantages of the US has had different impacts on job creation in different industries. Decrease of jobs in some industries such as traditional manufacturing is a normal phenomenon in the course of economic development and structural adjustment. The US government should have adapted to the overall trend of economic structural adjustment, taking proactive and effective measures to improve redistribution and reemployment and to help the unemployed find jobs in emerging industries. However, constrained by its traditional distribution mechanism and vested interests, the US government has failed to establish appropriate redistribution and reemployment mechanisms in time. The result has been the build-up of long-standing unemployment among some social groups. This has provided the breeding ground for political populism and isolationism.

The current US administration’s attempt to blame international trade and exporting countries for domestic unemployment is not supported by facts; it aims to deflect public attention in the face of intractable domestic political problems. Without truly resolving its own deep-seated structural problems, the US attempt to bring the manufacturing sector back home through protectionist measures is a completely counter-productive move. This beggar-thy-neighbor and lose-lose approach runs counter to economic rules and will only make the world economy less efficient and trigger opposition from countries around the globe. The US will do as much damage to itself as it will to others.