section_path: Background/Trade relationship
section_name: Trade relationship
paragraph_text: Trade relationship
  
  Since the 1980s, Trump had advocated tariffs to eliminate the U.S. trade deficit and promote domestic manufacturing, saying the country was being "ripped off" by its trading partners; imposing tariffs became a major plank of his presidential campaign. Nearly all economists who responded to surveys conducted by the Associated Press and Reuters said Trump's tariffs would do more harm than good to the American economy, and some economists advocated alternate means to address trade deficits with China.
  
  With the United States–China Relations Act of 2000, China was allowed to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and was given a most favored nation (MFN) status. The growth of trade accelerated after China's entry into the WTO in 2001,: 274 with the US and China becoming one another's most important trading partners. The US has consistently imported more from China than it has exported to China, with the bilateral US trade deficit in goods with China rising to $375.6 billion in 2017. According to Keyu Jin, This trade deficit is driven by a difference in saving rates between the US and China (Chinese households save more than 30% of disposable income on average, compared to 7% in the United States) while according to Xiaohuan Lan, the deficit is driven by the way the economic systems of the two countries are structured: the U.S. imports more than it exports since its domestic consumption is greater than its domestic production of goods while China exports more than it imports since its domestic production is greater than its domestic consumption of goods.: 273
  
  Since the entry of China into the WTO in December 2001, the decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs has accelerated (the China shock). The Economic Policy Institute estimated that the trade deficit with China cost about 2.7 million jobs between 2001 and 2011, including manufacturing and other industries. Since 2000, there have been several attempts to repeal the Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. The strongest attempt was in 2005 when House Representative Bernie Sanders and 61 co-sponsors introduced a legislation that would repeal the PNTR with China.
  
  There have been studies which have explored the strategic dimension of the trading relationship which some have argued is the best way to understand the main concerns over the way the relationship has developed.
  
  The US government has at times criticized various aspects of the US-China trade relationship, including large bilateral trade deficits, and China's relatively inflexible exchange rates. The administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama imposed quotas and tariffs on Chinese textiles in order to shield US domestic producers, accusing China of exporting these products at dumping prices. During the Obama administration, the US additionally accused China of subsidizing aluminum and steel production, and initiated a range of anti-dumping investigations against China. During these two US administrations, US-Chinese trade continued to grow. During this time, China's economy grew to be the second largest in the world (using nominal exchange rates), second only to that of the US. Large-scale Chinese economic initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and " Made in China 2025 " alarmed some US policymakers. More broadly, China's economic growth has been viewed by the US government as a challenge to American economic and geopolitical dominance.
  
  American proponents of tariffs on China have argued that tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs to the US; that bilateral tariffs should be reciprocal; that the US should eliminate its trade deficit with China; and that China should change various policies governing intellectual property and investment. Most economists are skeptical of the ability of tariffs to achieve the first three of these goals. A study estimates that U.S. exports to China provide support to 1.2 million American jobs and that Chinese multinational companies directly employ 197,000 Americans, while U.S. companies invested $105 billion in China in 2019. Economists have studied the impact of trade with China and increasing labor productivity on employment in the American manufacturing sector, with mixed results. Most economists believe that the American trade deficit is the result of macroeconomic factors, rather than trade policy. Two 2020 Congressional Research Service reports said most economists concluded that the long-run net effect of trade on the economy as a whole was positive and that attempts to address the trade deficit without addressing the underlying macroeconomic conditions would likely be counterproductive and create distortions in theeconomy.
  
  The U.S. and China held talks in Beijing between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and CCP Foreign Affairs Commission Office Director Wang Yi to prevent competition from escalating into conflict. The meetings aimed to stabilize strained relations and maintain open communication.