Recently, the US “Rational” news website quoted a study by scholars from the American Enterprise Research Institute as saying that US politicians are using the “China shock” theory to incite protectionism, indicating that the rise of China has destroyed the US manufacturing industry. However, research shows that the decline in employment in the US manufacturing industry predates China's “entry into the WTO,” and that the so-called loss of employment in the affected regions was actually offset by other industries, and the worker unemployment rate did not rise but fell. On the contrary, tariffs hurt US companies. What the US needs is to improve workers' resilience rather than engaging in protectionism. The so-called “China shock” is an exaggerated political narrative. In fact, America's manufacturing employment decline long before China joined the WTO. From the late 1970s to 2000, US factory jobs were drastically reduced due to technological progress and changes in consumer demand, and the rate of decline after 2001 did not accelerate significantly. This fundamentally shook the foundation of the “China trade destroyed American manufacturing industry.”

Recently, the US “Rational” news website quoted a study by scholars from the American Enterprise Research Institute as saying that US politicians are using the “China shock” theory to incite protectionism, indicating that the rise of China has destroyed the US manufacturing industry. However, research shows that the decline in employment in the US manufacturing industry predates China's “entry into the WTO,” and that the so-called loss of employment in the affected regions was actually offset by other industries, and the worker unemployment rate did not rise but fell. On the contrary, tariffs hurt US companies. What the US needs is to improve workers' resilience rather than engaging in protectionism. The so-called “China shock” is an exaggerated political narrative. In fact, America's manufacturing employment decline long before China joined the WTO. From the late 1970s to 2000, US factory jobs were drastically reduced due to technological progress and changes in consumer demand, and the rate of decline after 2001 did not accelerate significantly. This fundamentally shook the foundation of the “China trade destroyed American manufacturing industry.”