, Columnist
China Trade Shock for U.S. Workers Was Avoidable
Export subsidies could have offset Chinese currency manipulation.
There were alternatives to doing nothing.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In a piece earlier this week, I discussed some of the evidence that American workers have been hurt by free trade since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2000. I criticized economists for presenting a far too glib and confident public case for free trade when scholarly research has begun to show a more mixed picture.
But that still leaves an enormous question unanswered. What policy steps could the U. S. and other industrialized countries have taken to blunt the worst effects of trade with China? Did policy makers err, or was China’s entry into the global trading system simply an unforeseen negative shock to U.S. workers, like a hurricane or volcano? What might have been done differently?