Ambassador Lu Kun Publishes a Signed Article on China-U.S. Trade War

　　近日，驻多米尼克大使卢坤在多《纪事报》、《太阳报》和多米尼克新闻在线等主流媒体发表题为《中美贸易战的真相》的署名文章，澄清中美贸易战事实、批驳所谓“美国吃亏论”并阐述中方立场。卢大使文章全文译文如下：

Recently, H.E. Lu Kun, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Dominica published a signed article entitled "The Truth About China-U.S. Trade War" in Dominican mainstream media including the Chronicle, the SUN and Dominica News Online, elaborating on China's position on the China-U.S. trade war. Following is the full text of Ambassador Lu's article:

　　近日，中美贸易摩擦成为全球焦点。自2018年3月以来，美国频频挥舞关税“大棒”，单方面挑起中美经贸摩擦。中国一方面不得不采取有力应对措施，坚决捍卫国家和人民利益，另一方面与美国开展多轮经贸磋商，努力稳定双边经贸关系和世界经济形势。

　　美国以所谓“美国吃亏论”和中国“窃取”美知识产权作为挑起贸易摩擦的借口完全站不住脚。

　　美国“吃亏”了吗？

Recently, economic and trade dispute between China and the U.S. has become a global concern. Wielding tariffs as a "big stick", the current U.S. administration has unilaterally provoked economic and trade frictions with China since March 2018, when it launched an investigation under Section 301 against China. China has had to take countermeasures to defend the interests of the nation and its people while at the same time, engaging in multiple rounds of economic and trade consultations with the U.S. in an effort to stabilize the bilateral commercial relationship and the world economy.

In order to justify its initiation of the trade friction, the U.S. has accused China of pursuing trade surplus and of stealing intellectual property. Such claims are totally groundless.

The Myth of Trade Imbalance

　　一是美国对华贸易赤字被严重高估。美国商务部公布2018年对华货物贸易逆差为6210亿美元，但没有公布对华服务贸易顺差1500亿美元。美国还把香港、台湾来源于大陆的货物转口到美国的货物都计入中国出口的总盘子，而美国通过香港、台湾转口中国的货物却不计算在内，按照这种特殊导向的双重标准计算对华贸易额，必然造成数据失真。最近，中国商务部发布《关于美国在中美经贸合作中获益情况的研究报告》，根据中美两国商务部开展的联合研究，该报告测算出2018年美对华总体贸易实际逆差额约为1536亿美元，仅为美方公布逆差额的37%。

One, the U.S. deficits are overstated. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that its trade deficit with China in 2018 was 621 billion U.S. dollars, but did not announce a trade surplus of 150 billion U.S. dollars in services. The U.S. also counted re-exported goods from Hong Kong and Taiwan originating from the mainland to the U.S. in the total profile of China's exports, while the U.S. re-export to China through Hong Kong and Taiwan was not counted. This specially-oriented double standard will inevitably lead to data distortion. Recently, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce released the Research Report on US Gains from the China-US Trade and Economic Cooperation. With calculation based on the joint study of Chinese and U.S. commerce authorities, the Report proves that overall U.S. trade deficit to China should be around 153.6 billion dollars. That is only 37 percent of what the U.S. claims.

　　二是中美贸易不平衡的主要责任不在中方。贸易首先是市场的自发行为，中国从来没有强买强卖。逆差的产生受到两国产业竞争力、经济结构、发展阶段、国际分工和贸易政策等客观因素以及美元的国际货币地位、美国国内的低储蓄率和大量消费和美方对高科技产品的出口限制等美国自身因素影响。因此，美国贸易逆差问题的根子在美国自身。

Two, the main responsibility for the trade imbalance between China and the U.S. is not in the Chinese side. First and foremost, trade is a spontaneous behavior of the market, and China has never imposed business deals on others. Trade deficit results from, among other things, differences between countries in industrial competitiveness, economic structure, stage of development, international division of labor and trade policies, as well as the international currency status of the U.S. dollar, the low domestic savings rate and the mass consumption within the U.S., and the export restrictions of the U.S. side on high-tech products. Therefore, the root of the U.S. trade deficit problem is in the U.S. itself.