James Mann punctures the inevitable “truthiness” of the freer trade position with a report on how “Corporate America Turns Against China”.

American and European companies have vied for centuries, through all of China’s upheavals, to dominate what used to be called “the China market.” Now, increasingly, China wants to keep that market for itself.

It opened up to foreign companies in the 1980s and 1990s not because it believed in free trade or because it thought the visitors were wise and wonderful, but rather because it wanted their technology and know-how. But China no longer needs the multinational companies as it once did. The Chinese government has proved ever more adept at running an industrial policy that privileges its own companies, many of them state-owned.

In turn, the disenchantment of the Western business community colors the larger political and diplomatic landscape. In the past, corporate executives would lobby their presidents or prime ministers for an improved relationship with Beijing, one, needless to add, that would open the way for more investment and trade. That was the world Bill Clinton faced in the 1990s. But today, CEOs descend upon Washington or European capitals to ask their presidents or prime ministers to adopt a tougher stance with Beijing in commercial disputes.

just converted to the free trade gospel! Don’t get me wrong, the case for free trade is a slam dunk. But, anyone who thinks politics doesn’t trump theory in the real world courts an early cardiac. Free trade was good for business once – in the long run, it’s always good – but not now for the rent-hungry, lobby-deploying anemic breed the US is enduring now. Maybe, though, the whining titan-ettes of industry should take their game to Bangladesh!

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Filed under: Business/Economy, East Asia, Europe, Politics, USA Tagged: china, free trade, james mann, matthew yglesias, prc, tnr