The research explores opportunities for American exports to the People's Republic of China (PRC). As a part of this exploration, U.S. China trade during the 1988 1992 period is examined.
Political Factors Affecting U.S. China Trade
The popular uprising in Beijing in 1989 and the PRC government's crushing of that uprising before the television cameras of the world led the Chinese government to temporarily suspend some of its economic readjustments, and to generally slow down the pace of economic reform in the country. For the most part, however, the PRC government wanted to continue its economic interaction with the west, and, as the events of the summer of 1989 were pushed out of the public mind in the west countries by the Gulf War of 1991, economic recession, and American and British general elections, the trading climate between the west and China returned generally to pre Tienamen conditions. By the fall of 1991, most western firms had overcome the fears induced by the suppression of the uprising, and were once again desirous of doing business with China.1
Concerns of the American government continued, however, to impede the development of U.S. Chinese trade. Generally, the Administration (first Bush and then Clinton) favored extension of most favored nation status for the PRC, while strong opposition to that designation for the PRC existed in the Congress. Through
1R. F. De Voe, "The Lure of the Chinese Market," Across the Board, 28 (October 1991): 51 52.mid 1993, the Administration position has generally prevailed, although the reach accommodation with the Congress, some governmental restrictions on U.S. China trade continue.
Other Factors Affecting U.S. China Trade
In contemporary China, pragmatism has taken precedence over ideology.2 Where Mao Ze Dung was quoted as saying that it is better to be Red than to be expert, his eventual successor, Deng Xiaoping', was quoted to the effect that it makes no...