If it wasn't clear before, it is now: china—not Japan—is our largest trade problem. This is not mainly because the trade deficit with China has exploded or that China has rapidly emerged as one of the world's largest and fastest-growing trading nations. The real reason is that trading with China raises basic issues of how, or whether, we can use trade to create a more prosperous and peaceful world order. We haven't faced such fundamental questions for almost half a century. It's a myth to think that the United States trades only for economic advantage. We do that, of course, and most discussions of trade policy are couched in terms of jobs or competition. But since World War II, American trade policy has reflected a broader belief that growing international commerce would bolster affluent democracies, contributing to global stability. Countries would be cemented by mutual benefits. In the cold war, trade was a big weapon. Our policy was simple: we traded with our friends; we didn't trade with enemies.
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