Originally published on Seattle Times February 12, 2020

There has been a long, deafening silence from the Trump administration on the coronavirus. What actions have transpired include steps to protect U.S. citizens, which we support, but also embarrassing gaffes, such as Wilbur Ross’ rightly pilloried remark that the coronavirus presents potential economic opportunities for American workers.

The United States has long been able to carry itself above the fray, putting aside adversarial country-to-country grievances to bring humanitarian help and supplies to those in need. To address this global health crisis, we strongly encourage the federal government to provide basic humanitarian aid to China.

It was this country, even after labeling Iran part of an “axis of evil,” that delivered much needed humanitarian aid in 2003 to victims and others displaced by a catastrophic earthquake. It was the U.S. that, without hesitation, sent legions of medical staff and military personnel to sub-Saharan Africa in 2014 to combat the spread of Ebola and treat those infected. Yet in 2020, as the entire nation of 1.4 billion Chinese is under quarantine, there has been hardly a mention from our national leaders on what the U.S. can do to support China in this time of crisis.

Yes, the U.S.-China relationship has its share of warts. There are countless complaints by the U.S. government and American business about China’s subsidization of state-owned enterprises or its stealing of intellectual property. But these grievances do not extend to the Chinese people, many of whom in Wuhan and elsewhere are running out of basic medical supplies like masks and surgical gowns.

In response to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the United States and other countries have closed their borders to visitors from China to contain the spread of the virus. Although the World Health Organization does not recommend or encourage countries to close borders, it is a sovereign nation’s right to protect its citizens in a manner it believes effective. We will not argue this decision. However, as the world’s leading economic power and a country with a proud history of providing relief during humanitarian disasters, the U.S. should step up to assist and aid China to mitigate the impacts of the virus on the Chinese citizenry.

At the Washington State China Relations Council, we have been fielding multiple inquiries about how concerned local citizens may donate masks, gowns and other items as well as questions about where to direct cash donations destined for China. Emails have poured into our office from Chinese organizations asking for help to source supplies for local and regional health authorities.

Citizens around the country are leading grassroots funding campaigns and gathering medical supplies that will hopefully find their way to China. International nonprofit organizations such as Project Hope are arranging for chartered flights to carry supplies to Wuhan and other large Chinese metropolises. U.S. corporations, many of them based here in Washington, have donated large quantities of medical supplies. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has made $100 million available to fight the virus.

The U.S. has volunteered to send Center of Disease Control (CDC) experts to China to help Chinese medical authorities with their study and strategies to control the virus, which should be commended. However, more is needed.

It is time for both countries to put name-calling and inaction aside and work together to solve this global crisis. The U.S. government should immediately solicit medical supplies and other needed items for China — if even on a limited basis — and offer these to the Chinese authorities. Such a goodwill gesture not only supports efforts in China to stem the crisis but will also help to mitigate the risk that the virus could rapidly multiply in our country. The amount of aid is not the real issue — this is a question of doing the right thing for people in need.

The Washington State China Relations Council welcomes the signing of the Phase One Trade Deal with China. The Council sees the agreement as a modest step in getting the two economies back to business, however, the deal does not address the underlying issues of conflict between the two countries.

Under the terms of the agreement China has pledged to purchase $200 billion of US products along with commitments to address intellectual property and currency concerns as well as to improve market access in sectors such as financial services.  The US will cancel tariffs that had been scheduled to be enforced on Dec. 15, 2019 and cut in half a previous round of 15 percent tariffs on $120 billion worth of products.

Key issues, such as subsidies and industrial policies were not included in this agreement and remain major sources of friction between the two countries.  These issues will supposedly be tackled in the Phase 2 discussions which have yet to be scheduled.

WSCRC will host an event “Unpacking the U.S. – China Phase 1 Trade Deal” on February 6^th in Seattle to exam the newly signed agreement and to outline opportunities for Washington State Companies. Please REGISTER HERE.

The WSCRC welcomes today’s announcement by the U.S. and Chinese Governments of a “Phase One” trade agreement between the two countries, putting a temporary pause to the trade war. The agreement covers issues that have been at the center of the trade negotiations, including intellectual property, forced technology transfer, agriculture, financial services and the currency and foreign exchange. Under this agreement, the U.S. would remove new tariffs on $156 billion of products that are scheduled to take effect this Sunday and would also reduce the tariff rate on roughly $120 billion of goods from 15% to 7.5%. China, in turn, would also remove tariffs and purchase agricultural products from the U.S., but the Chinese government has not yet disclosed the scale of the tariff reduction or purchase amount.

We believe the resumption of trade with China across many product categories will be beneficial to businesses in Washington state. We look forward to reviewing the details of the agreement and will comment further when they are available.

4 Steps for Trump Administration to Resolve the China Trade War

By: J. Norwell Coquillard

Published online on Seattle Times September 12, 2019

The future of U.S.-China relations is critical to the economic well-being of Washington state. China is our state’s most important export destination, source of investment, and trade and commercial partner. The members of the Washington State China Relations Council are deeply concerned with many of the issues and grievances underpinning the current impasse between our two countries. However, we fundamentally disagree with the approaches being taken to address these challenges and the long-term trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship.

China’s economic importance to Washington state cannot be overstated. In 2018, Washington exported $14.3 billion in goods there, including aircraft, medical devices, cherries and machinery. China is also a vital market for many of our state’s leading software, technology and professional-services firms, as well as a leading source of foreign students, tourism spending and investment.

Washington’s ports handled 15.5 million metric tons of cargo to and from China in 2018, although this was down from 25 million metric tons in 2017. More than a third of all containers handled in Washington arrive from or are heading to China. Our state’s global trade and supply chain management system directly employs nearly 100,000 workers in such fields as stevedoring, intermodal and transloading (transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another), warehousing, logistics and trade finance.

There are no true winners from a trade war, and Washington is a case in point. China’s retaliatory tariffs weaken the competitiveness of Washington products exported there, hurting our businesses, farmers and workers. Through the first half of 2019, products shipped from Washington subject to China’s retaliatory tariffs were down 31% year-over-year by value, while imported and exported cargo handled at our ports subject to tariffs from either side were down 22%.

Despite the dire state of our trade relationship with China, there is a constructive way forward.

• First, the U.S. and Chinese governments should immediately resume trade talks, and negotiators should come to a resolution on reducing barriers to trade and strengthen provisions that enable businesses to compete in a fair and transparent manner.

• Second, move forward with a positive, incentive-laden framework and set of milestones that effectively address the challenges at the core of trade tensions. The current administration’s approach has thus far been entirely punitive. However, Chinese leaders cannot, and will not, be viewed as capitulating to foreign demands.

Instead, we believe that solution-oriented approaches that establish a framework with the highest standards for trade and enforcement will provide a more constructive, long-term solution. An example of this is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11-country trade pact that established universal rules of trade, including strong provisions on intellectual property protection and state-owned enterprises.

The administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the predecessor TPP agreement not only deprived U.S. farmers, producers and consumers from the benefits of the agreement, but eliminated one of the strongest points of leverage for the U.S. and its Asia-Pacific partners to encourage China to step up its market opening and reforms.

• Third, the U.S. must leverage our allies more effectively. Multilateralism is a proven strategy for inducing positive behavior and providing constructive pressure on China. We can work with our allies to identify practices and rules of engagement we expect from China, and thus more effectively hold them accountable.

• Fourth, and most important, define what a successful trade deal looks like. Any subsequent negotiations and resulting Chinese behavior should be evaluated based on this measuring stick.

The relationship between the U.S. and China is, and will continue to be, the most important geopolitical relationship of the 21st century. The council and its members stand ready to support our Congressional delegates and other leaders as a resource and partner. The future health of this relationship matters significantly for Washington state businesses, communities and workers.

The Washington State China Relations Council is the nation’s leading statewide organization dedicated to promoting stronger commercial, educational and cultural engagement with China. The council’s members, comprising more than 100 companies, civic organizations and individuals in Washington state, believe that increased trade, economic cooperation and business activity will lead to greater prosperity in both countries and provide a platform to enhance mutual understanding between the two nations.