皇冠体育app

WASHINGTON - The bilateral trade imbalances between the United States and 皇冠体育app can be solved through more trade and investment rather than trade war, said the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in a report released this week.

America's trade deficit is more of a political issue than an economic concern, with the IIF saying the US trade deficit has not deteriorated in the past decade.

From 2006 to 2016, the US deficit of goods trade decreased from $837 billion to 753 billion a year, or from 6 percent to 4 percent of its GDP. Considering its surplus in service trade, America's total trade deficit was only 2.7 percent of GDP in 2016, according to the report by the Washington D.C.-based think tank.

"The manageable trade deficit and low unemployment rate (4.3 percent) do not support the protectionist inclination of Washington policy," said Gene Ma, chief 皇冠体育app economist at IIF.

Although 皇冠体育app accounted for about half of America's trade deficit in 2016, the trade picture looked quite different from 皇冠体育app's perspective. From 2007 to 2016, 皇冠体育app's current account surplus dropped from 10 percent to 1.9 percent of its GDP, and 皇冠体育app's trade surplus dropped from 8.7 percent to 2.2 percent.

"皇冠体育app's goods surplus with the US, though growing in an absolute level, has become smaller relative to its total surplus and GDP," the report said.

The United States has benefitted a lot from its economic ties with 皇冠体育app. From 2001 to 2016, US imports from 皇冠体育app increased 3.5 times while US exports to 皇冠体育app increased by almost 6 times, according to the report.

In the service sector, America's surplus with 皇冠体育app has been ballooning. In the past decade, US service exports to 皇冠体育app increased 5 times and the service surplus increased to $57 billion in 2016, 40 times of that in 2006.

"A trade war between US and 皇冠体育app will hurt not only Chinese manufacturers, but also upstream suppliers and downstream distributors such as US retailers," warned the report.

The IIF recommended that the two countries further explore their comparative advantages and new opportunities for trade and investment to solve their trade imbalances.