While many people in the United States have blamed job losses
there on an increase in imports from China, one veteran American
businessman has said that exports to China have actually helped to
create jobs.
Interviewed by China Daily via e-mail recently, Myron
A. Brilliant, vice-president in charge of Asian affairs at the
Washington-based US Chamber of Commerce's international division,
said the US has an overall trade surplus with China in terms of
both goods and services.
"Such exports (to China) support well-paying American jobs," he
said.
In 2006, US exports to China grew by 32 percent on the previous
year, making China the fastest growing major market for US
goods.
The increase has created a huge number of jobs all over the US,
Brilliant said.
"One of our member companies has increased its exports to China
by 40 percent in recent years, which has helped to create some
5,000 new production jobs here in the United States," he said.
The US has witnessed even faster growth in its exports of
services, which in 2005 were valued at $3.1 billion, Brilliant
said.
Exports of services to China are growing faster than to any
other country, he said. While the US has a trade deficit in terms
of goods, in 2005 it recorded a surplus of US$2.6 billion with
China for services.
US service sector exports and net income gained from service
sector investments in China, support upwards of 37,000 jobs in
high-productivity sectors of the US economy, Brilliant said.
He also suggested that China should further open its service
sector to foreign competitors as, "the availability of more modern
services will also help raise productivity and lead to higher
standards of living for Chinese people".
Brilliant said: "If the service sector is fully opened, it is
estimated that the surplus in services trade will increase to about
US$60 billion by 2015, and help create up to 240,000 high-paying US
service sector jobs."
For the second round of Sino-US strategic economic dialogue
being held in Washington today and tomorrow, Brilliant said he
expected the two sides to yield substantial ground in the opening
of more commercial air routes in China and reducing tariffs to
facilitate China's imports of American clean coal and other
energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies.
(China Daily May 22, 2007)