US-China competition not the same as a Cold War – Asia Times

During the Cold War, trade between the combatants was minimal. In 1989, a relatively robust year, US-Soviet two-way trade totaled US$5 billion, less than 1% of total US trade. The US imported only $700 million in Soviet goods that year.

Thirty years later, the trade numbers with another rival nation are orders of magnitude bigger. US-China trade in 2019 totaled $558 billion, more than 10% of America s trade with the world.

Tense exchanges between the US and China have become a nearly everyday affair, so it s understandable that the term Cold War is back in vogue. Google Cold War with China or New Cold War and you ll get hundreds of millions of results. I confess, I ve used the term once or twice myself.

But ultimately it s a misleading term. The two countries are engaged in a serious and often antagonistic competition, no question. But the Cold War is the wrong historical analogy.

Trade with the Soviet Union was a half-hearted, tactical affair. American companies built plants in Russia in the 1920s and 1930s but after World War II investment was rare, technology transfer rarer.

via asiatimes.com

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