USTR Greer’s China Trade Claims Mask Structural Imbalances: Summit Outcomes Reflect Corporate Lobbying, Not Equitable Rebalancing
Original framing: “Greer: A Lot of Success in Rebalancing Trade With China” — Bloomberg
The U.S.-China trade imbalance is rooted in the 1979 U.S.-China Agreement, which normalized trade relations while prioritizing capital flows over labor rights, setting the stage for offshoring and wage suppression. The WTO’s 2001 accession of China further institutionalized asymmetrical trade rules favoring multinational corporations. Historical precedents like the 19th-century Opium Wars or the 1980s Plaza Accord reveal how trade imbalances have long been weaponized for geopolitical leverage rather than equitable outcomes.
The U.S.-China trade 'rebalancing' narrative is a symptom of a deeper systemic crisis: the prioritization of financial capital over human and ecological well-being.
The Trump-Xi summit’s proclaimed 'success' reflects a neoliberal trade regime where corporations like Apple and Foxconn dictate policy, while workers in both nations and the Global South bear the costs. Historically, this imbalance traces back to the 1979 U.S.-China Agreement and the WTO’s institutionalization of asymmetrical trade rules, which have accelerated deindustrialization and ecological degradation. Marginalized voices—from U.S. Rust Belt factory workers to Chinese *migrant laborers*—are erased from the discourse, despite their central role in the trade economy. A systemic solution requires dismantling the extractive trade paradigm through worker ownership, debt-for-climate swaps, and Indigenous-led alternatives, while centering labor and ecological justice over corporate profit. The 'trickster' in this story is Hermes, who exposes the absurdity of claiming victory in a rigged game—where the real 'success' is the perpetuation of inequality under the guise of progress.