“A lot of these things sound a lot better in theory than in practice,” said Lina Benabdallah, an assistant professor at Wake Forest University. But they’re also worried the senator’s zero-sum approach toward America’s third-largest trading partner may go too far. The US spent years letting China take advantage of many of its industries, and it’s high time for Washington to push back, they said. “We cannot watch as America becomes less prosperous and cedes its position to a totalitarian power dedicated to bending the world to its will.”Įxperts I spoke to about Cotton’s plan said there’s clearly a need to reform, and in some places completely reshape, the way the two countries do business with each other. “The costs of targeted decoupling with China pale in comparison to the costs of passivity,” Cotton said. Still, Cotton believes the long-term benefits are worth the early pains. Ending US-China economic cooperation in key sectors like quantum computing and artificial intelligence means Americans will take a hit as domestic companies and workers lose vital partners. And he’s also a long-rumored 2024 presidential contender, so there’s a chance his vision could turn into policy if he gets into the Oval Office.īut even Cotton acknowledges his suggestions could hurt the US economy in the near term. He sits on the Armed Services, Intelligence, and Joint Economic committees in the Senate, which means he’s privy to some of the most sensitive information about how the US and China compete on multiple fronts. It’s worth taking Cotton’s ideas seriously. He called the US-China fight a “protracted twilight struggle that will determine the fate of the world.” to the ash heap of history,” the senator said in a speech detailing his 84-page report at a virtual Reagan Institute event on Thursday. “We need to beat this evil empire and consign the Chinese Communists. Cotton is therefore proposing not only a blueprint for economic warfare, but also a roadmap for defeating China’s regime and triggering its collapse. It seeks to prove that China’s Communist, authoritarian model doesn’t stack up to America’s capitalist, democratic one. Only then - with the US less dependent on China’s giant economy - can America be more secure in the years to come.īut Cotton’s plan isn’t just aimed at ensuring America’s economic well-being. Cotton calls for Washington to sever many of its ties with Chinese industry and society while at the same time investing at home in the scientific, technological, and manufacturing fields China currently dominates. The report - titled “ Beat China: Targeted Decoupling and the Economic Long War” - outlines the Arkansas senator’s vision for how the US can outlast Beijing in a Cold War-like struggle.
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Tom Cotton on Wednesday released perhaps the most detailed strategy by a prominent Republican lawmaker for long-term US-China competition - and it effectively calls for ending the economic relationship between the world’s two richest countries as we know it.