Issue Brief posted June 10, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
$25 Billion: The Sprint and Smithfield Acquisitions Should Be Cleared
Permitting the acquisitions of Sprint by Japan’s SoftBank and Smithfield by China’s Shuanghui is in America’s national interest. Except for narrowly defined security reasons, the default position of the U.S. government should be to keep out of private-sector transactions.
The Shuanghui–Smithfield deal is nothing more than one food company purchasing another; there are no…
Backgrounder posted June 6, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Must Enhance Competitive Neutrality
The Trans-Pacific Partnership has become the principal American trade initiative, and perhaps the principal trade initiative globally. One reason for its importance is that it is intended to set a precedent for treatment of state-owned enterprises, which operate in competition with commercial firms but are owned by a national or local government.
The very purpose of most…
Testimony posted May 9, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
Chinese Investment in the U.S.: Facts and Motives
Testimony for
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
by Derek Scissors
May 9, 2013
Now and for some time to come, the bulk of Chinese investment in the United States will take the form of Treasury bond holdings. Excluding bonds, Chinese investment in the U.S. is a $50 billion issue that could have been a $75 billion issue already and will be a $100…
Special Report posted April 26, 2013 by Sunjoy Joshi, C. Raja Mohan, Vikram Sood, Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Ph.D., James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Walter Lohman, Lisa Curtis, Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
Beyond the Plateau in U.S. – India Relations
IntroductionIn real terms, there is no denying the extraordinary progress in the engagement between India and the United States over the past two decades. Throughout, and even after, the Cold War, the world's two largest democracies remained estranged. In the first decade after the end of the Cold War, the two countries quarreled over nuclear nonproliferation; the U.S.…
Backgrounder posted March 8, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
What a Good Trans-Pacific Partnership Looks Like
Every day, U.S. policymakers are faced with choices that will determine the future of American leadership in Asia. One such set of choices involves the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) currently being negotiated.
The TPP is a set of trade and investment negotiations among the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and…
Issue Brief posted February 15, 2013 by Walter Lohman, Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
U.S. Should Back India’s Membership in APEC
It has been a bad half-decade for American foreign economic policy. The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha round was mortally wounded in 2008. The last three bilateral trade agreements were stalled and then renegotiated. The next one is not even on the radar screen. While the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and a possible agreement with the 27-nation European…
Issue Brief posted January 28, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
A Better Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
According to The Heritage Foundation’s China Global Investment Tracker, Chinese non-bond investment in the U.S. set a record in 2012.[1] China has $3.3 trillion in foreign reserves and, like other fast-growing economies, wants to invest more here. Foreign investment and other commerce benefits America, but there are understandable concerns about the loss of advanced…
Issue Brief posted January 18, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
Chinese Growth, GDP, and Other Things the U.S. Should Doubt
The first question regarding China’s newly released economic numbers is not how fast the People’s Republic of China (PRC) grew last year. Rather, it is whether stars are aligned for the State Statistical Bureau (SSB) to provide accurate information about GDP and more useful measures, such as household consumption.
Answer: to some extent. The Chinese economy is undergoing…
Backgrounder posted January 9, 2013 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
China’s Global Investment Rises: The U.S. Should Focus on Competition
Chinese outward investment broke records in 2012, both around the world and in the United States. Foreign distrust of state enterprises and other obstacles will serve as a check on the pace of growth, but the willingness to pay top dollar for energy and other assets ensures a higher profile for Chinese firms. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is hardly buying up Latin…
Special Report posted January 7, 2013 by Laveesh Bhandari, Jeremy Carl, Bibek Debroy, Michelle Kaffenberger, Pravakar Sahoo, Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
Unleashing the Market in the India–U.S. Economic Relationship, Part 1
Project Overview
India will soon have the largest population of any country in the world. It therefore has the potential, with extensive and difficult reforms, to become the world's most important free market—a position currently held by the United States. It follows directly that the economic relationship between India and the U.S., if allowed to flourish, can greatly…
Issue Brief posted November 19, 2012 by Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
Chinese Economic Espionage Is Hurting the Case for Free Trade
Trade and investment with China benefits the U.S. This is evident in choices made by individuals and companies every day to buy Chinese goods and work with Chinese partners. Indeed, American business has been the chief proponent of a sound U.S.–China economic relationship.
The context makes intense Chinese economic espionage all the more regrettable. Chinese entities…