'China not enemy of free trade'
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SINGAPORE - A US business group has warned against depicting China as the enemy of free trade amid growing criticism that the Chinese economy is booming at the expense of American jobs.
"From a private sector point of view, we're concerned about the rhetoric that targets China," ASEAN-US Business Council president Ernest Bower said on the sidelines of a seminar on the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
Bower, whose group promotes US economic relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said companies do not want China "villified" as an "enemy of trade".
Bilateral trade relations between the US and China have taken a hit after Washington imposed a slew of duties on Chinese imports including televison sets and textiles.
Some critics claim the allegedly undervalued yuan is making Chinese exports artificially cheap, thereby putting US manufacturers at a disadvantage.
Bower said he did not want China to be put in the same light as Japan which was similarly criticised by Washington during the 1980s when it enjoyed a huge trade surplus with the United States.
"We don't want China to be put in that position ... so we hope that our political system ... doesn't villify China," he said.
Amid the growing rhetoric against China, the Washington-based business council wants to continue to keep the spotlight on expanding commercial opportunities between the region and the United States, Bower said.
"We want to keep people focused on the practical work of going about building new investments, building new transactions and putting people to work in the United States and in Southeast Asia and in China," he said.
Despite worries of possible rising US trade protectionism, Bower said US commercial interest in the region remained strong.
"I think if you look at the real US presence in Southeast Asia, it's so robust," Bower said, putting US investment in the region at 52 billion US dollars, the largest by any country.
AFP
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