White House chief strategist Steve Bannon's recent comments on the U.S.-China relations are "irresponsible," said a leading American global business expert.
By "ratcheting up the rhetoric" against China, it may be "a strategy" of Bannon to "perhaps gain more in terms of putting pressure on (China)," from a negotiating standpoint, said John Manzella, CEO of the World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara, New York State, in an interview with Xinhua on Thursday.
It is "nothing new" that U.S. politicians pointing fingers at a foreign country for some immediate political gains at home, Manzella said.
SCAPEGOAT GAME
Bannon said in an unusual interview Wednesday with The American Prospect that the United States was at "economic war with China" and he warned that "one of us is going to be a hegemon in 25 or 30 years and it's gonna be them if we go down this path."
"I'm not really sure what the intention is there by Mr. Bannon, but I do think those comments are irresponsible," Manzella said.
"During the (19)80s when the U.S. incurred some severe difficulties, politicians to a large extent scapegoated Japan. Then in the (19)90s and 2000s, When you saw certain areas and certain industries that were hurt, Mexico became the scapegoat. Now, China has become the scapegoat," he said.
Manzella said it is unfair to blame China for the loss of the manufacturing jobs, because 80 percent of the loss was "a result of automation not trade."
"The bottom line is it's misinformation," he explained. "The bottom line is automation which is tremendously positive force because it boosts productivity, and productivity is the number one factor increasing our (standard) of living,"
But automation does have a "short-term downfall," he said. "And that is today you may have just a few people producing a product where 10 years ago you had 15 people."
"So it does result in the loss of jobs which requires people to learn more and more skills and to upgrade their skills on a daily basis. And that's difficult," he said.
"The problem is most people are spending time working one or two jobs to take care of their families, they are theoretically putting out fires every week," Manzella said. "Most people don't have time to delve into the economic details, so you will hear this rhetoric from politicians that are very often trying to whip up support from their constituents."
