As tensions continue to rise and relationships become more strained, the United States should consider cutting economic ties with China according to Derek Scissors and Daniel Blumenthal of the New York Times. The years of negotiations between the two have been notably unsuccessful and will only continue to afford China the opportunity to threaten America’s innovative advantage and military edge. China has stolen intellectual property by forcing American companies to hand over their technology to do business in their country and has used such technology to build upon their military. With no end in sight, the United States needs to take serious action and can no longer “just let the market work.” Some proposed solutions moving forward should include imposing sanctions on the Chinese beneficiaries of intellectual property and intervening to stop foreign investment in technology that builds upon the Chinese Army.
This call to action along with the proposed solutions, go hand in hand with the neomercantilist policies and school of thought. The United States is no longer benefiting from its relationship with China. In fact, it is suffering from its relationship with China and has been at least since 2005 with the Unocal Corporation scare. In this zero-sum game, China has shown that it is the more powerful state while the United States continues to lose its economic and military dominance. Instead of continuing worthless handshakes and talks with China, the United States instead should look to such neomercantilist policies to prevent foreigners from gaining too much control of a sector of the economy and give power back to their domestically-owned companies. China is a major industrial production economy that threatens the international trading community. Therefore, steps by the United States to create a more guarded and mercantilist approach to trade must be taken.