Derek Scissors | The Buffalo Chronicle

Trade deficit with China grows by $158 billion

BY DEREK SCISSORS Remember when our trade deficit with China mattered? Half-year figures for Sino-American goods trade were published Friday, but you’re in good company if you missed it. It’s hard for the bilateral trade deficit to affect the US

American funding of China is becoming dangerous

BY DEREK SCISSORS Key Points American investment in the People’s Republic of China probably exceeds $1 trillion, most occurring in the past six years. The vast majority is portfolio investment—holdings of bonds and, especially, small equities stakes. The amount is

Report envisions partial decoupling from China

BY DEREK SCISSORS Key Points Partial decoupling from China is overdue. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) suppresses foreign competition and infringes intellectual property. It is an ugly dictatorship at home and increasingly aggressive overseas. Decoupling involves a range of

Misunderstanding US-China economic comparisons

BY DEREK SCISSORS Two weeks ago, the World Bank published new estimates putting China slightly ahead of the US in 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). This is badly misleading. China may become a true peer of

Replacing phase 1: Options for dealing with China

BY DEREK SCISSORS President Trump should stop talking about China and act. First-quarter trade numbers show his “phase one” deal is a non-starter for 2020, not to mention dwarfed by COVID. The president’s elevation of selling more to China above everything else has frozen

SCISSORS: Parsing the ‘China Deal’ facts sheet

BY DEREK SCISSORS “Fact sheets” are public relations efforts. So it’s telling that the fact sheet for the US-China trade deal announced last week is not convincing — phase 1 is in fact a small deal. The twist: small is beautiful in