December 11 that two former governors Hunts Huntsman and Gary Locke, who have served as U.S. ambassadors to China, said that deteriorating Sino-US relations have caused great losses to trade, tourism, employment and personnel exchanges in their states.
They believe that the resumption of Sino-US exchanges at the local level is crucial to the well-being of the people in each state.
Gary Locke, a former ambassador to China, secretary of commerce and governor of Washington, said that exports from cherry, apples, wheat to Boeing aircraft have been felt in the past few years due to the Sino-US trade war.
Gary Locke said that trade-dependent Washington State’s exports fell by 65% since the outbreak of the trade war, losing 100,000 cargo-related jobs; ports and exports from Oregon to Washington state fell by 60%; and Boeing did not go to China in the three years from 2018 to 2020.
One plane has been sold, not to mention the airlift of fresh cherries to China has basically stopped.
“The trade war has created a serious problem for us, as it not only affects our exports, but also increases the cost of doing business in Washington State.” Gary Locke said: “The strategy of the United States to fight alone is actually helping American competitors in Europe or other parts of the world.”
Former Utah Governor Huntsman, who served as ambassador to China, said that Utah’s economy mainly relies on trade in agriculture, technology and tourism. “The sluggish Sino-US relations will affect our trading opportunities.
If the deteriorating relationship continues, it will be a bad thing.
According to the report, on December 7, Huntsman, Gary Locke, former Governor Holden of Missouri and former Governor Snyder of Michigan attended a video seminar for former U.S. governors to discuss the challenges posed by current Sino-US relations to states.
Snyder said, “We know the importance of Sino-US relations for trade with China.
China is our largest exporter, at least before the tariff war and trade war. Therefore, we know the importance of trade with and relations with China for our economic success.
Gary Locke said: “Our task is to help our farmers, our manufacturers, sell their products made in the United States to China and the rest of the world. This is what the governor wants to do.
We focus on people’s well-being, such as employment opportunities, education and social security networks.”
Snyder said that the U.S. government needs to deal with China smarter.
“We need to do something else, not big moves that may lead to unintended consequences, which is very detrimental to American employment and mutual learning.”
