Still think it’s a level playing field?

We’ve discussed the idea of free trade here many times and we all seem to agree that free trade is a good thing. I’ve argued a number of times that US-Sino trade is definitely not free, however. I emphasis that a tilted playing field does not deliver the same benefits and can instead be harmful. The primary culprits tilting the field are the artificial exchange rate and the lax environmental laws which greatly reduce overhead for industry.  Another is the “voluntary” transfer of technology to China, which is a requirement that U.S. firms “transfer” technological know-how to China as a condition of doing business there. This often takes the form of establishing R&D facilities in China and/or a joint venture with a Chinese firm where the U.S. firm contributes the technology and the Chinese firm contributes cheap labor. While such ventures look like voluntary actions, they are prerequisites of doing business there. But this post is about a field un-leveler that we don’t hear or see much about.