Junk MFN Status For China To Revive U.S. Manufacturing

Freeing the US economy from China will create an American industrial renaissance and millions of good-paying jobs, Zach Motti, chairperson of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) and president of Atlas Tool Works, argued in an opinion piece for MarketWatch.

Photo Insert: It should be a no-brainer to repeal China’s “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) status.

Motti says that tariffs must be raised on a wide swath of China’s exports and policies must be implemented to rebuild domestic US manufacturing.

By doing so, the government could finally start the long-overdue process of decoupling the US economy from China. Beijing has so antagonized the US that Congress and the Biden administration must move boldly.

On humanitarian grounds, the US is already late to the party. Beijing’s human rights abuses and slave labor in Xinjiang are well-documented. The continuing environmental toll of China’s polluting factories — including ozone-destroying chemicals — should be enough to send sensible nations running.

But economics matter, too. Decoupling from China now could launch an American industrial renaissance — and also create millions of good-paying US jobs.

For starters, it should be a no-brainer to repeal China’s “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) status. After 20 years, it’s clear that trade liberalization has failed to transform China into an ally, a partner, or even a more democratic society.

In fact, the opposite has happened. MFN has allowed two-thirds of China’s exports to face little or no tariffs in the US. In fact, America’s top three imports from China—laptops, cell phones, and children’s toys—face no tariffs whatsoever.

And only one-third of China’s exports are even covered under the “Trump tariffs” imposed in 2018. With Beijing already massively subsidizing its state-owned companies, it makes no sense to allow such continued, duty-free access.

This is especially egregious when considering that much of China’s manufacturing comes without any real semblance of labor or environmental controls. The answer is twofold: Raise tariffs on a wide swath of China’s exports and implement policies to rebuild domestic American manufacturing.

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