Hoover Institution fellow H.R. McMaster discusses what the TikTok deal means to ongoing U.S. and China relations.

On a rhetorical level, Xi Jinping might seem the steady champion of free trade and world peace, and Trump the selfish and impossible partner, an enemy of shared global values. “Let us join hands to uphold the values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom shared by all of us,” said Xi, “and build a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. Together, we can make the world a better place for everyone.”

by David Bandurski

China’s Five-Year Plans are shocks to growth in targeted industries in China. These plans were not preceded by low production or employment in the same industries in the U.S., but were followed by shrinkage of establishments and employment one to two years down the road. The dynamics of stock returns, firm valuation, and firm desire to hire indicate that the stock market and corporate decision makers did not expect deteriorating prospects of the targeted industries prior to, but only made adjustments after the announcement of the Plans. 

By Xiao Cen, Vyacheslav Fos and Wei Jiang

China’s emergence as a great economic power has induced an epochal shift in patterns of world trade. Simultaneously, it has challenged much of the received empirical wisdom about how labor markets adjust to trade shocks. Alongside the heralded consumer benefits of expanded trade are substantial adjustment costs and distributional consequences. These impacts are most visible in the local labor markets in which the industries exposed to foreign competition are concentrated. 

by David Autor, David Dorn and Gordon Hanson