[UNCTAD] Technology: Confidence of the US in Trade War

Written by Alternet

In the fourth session of the conference, the progress of UNCTAD seems to fall into a state of indecision. Delegates of the developing and smaller developed countries are facing a dilemma: US-China trade war has posed negative impacts and potential threats on their trading relationship with the US and China, while none of the countries seems to have the potential to replace them.

In the first few council sessions, delegates of the developing countries, such as Thailand and India, mentioned and agreed that the solution to mitigate the impacts of US-China trade war is trade diversion. They boldly and blindly posed ideas of forming more bilateral trade partnerships between developing countries and other developed countries, in order to reduce reliance on these two large economic bodies.

Mysteriously, the delegate of the US remains unusually quiet almost throughout the sessions, even though the diversion of trade from the US hinders the US economy to a large extent.

The mystery was quickly solved in the following council session. The solution goes back to relying on the US for help when the question of ‘Diversifying trade supply requires money and time, how are we going to help the countries negatively affected by the US-China Trade War?’ was raised.

Ironically but reasonably, the way to reduce reliance on the US came out to be asking the US for technological assistance first.

Technology, which is the US’s biggest advantage, is undoubtedly the more sustainable solution to help the less developed countries. These countries willingly accepted the help offered by the US delegate, which provided technology support for the LEDCs both in agricultural and manufacturing fields, in addition to fundings, to improve the skill levels of the workers in these countries.

On the other hand, China’s initiative of providing monetary aid is questioned with problems of corruption and sustainability.

More excitingly, when delegates from some other developed countries offered to cooperate with the developing countries to substitute the high-tech goods from the US, the delegate of the US tactfully reminded him that, ‘countries would not be able to manage the supply without the help of the US’, which was again agreed by the rest of the delegates.

Containing only 5% of the world’s total population, the US can consistently account for more than 30-60% of the world’s scientific activities and accomplishments. Clearly, with technological advances far ahead of the rest of the nations, the role of the US in the trade cooperation is irreplaceable. As long as the US is willing to cooperate with the rest of the world in a non-Trumpism manner, the long-term economic benefits can be ensured.

Clearly demonstrated in the two-day UNCTAD conference, Donald Trump’s protectionist diplomacy strategy and ‘talking about nonsense’ style are problematic and completely useless. On the other hand The ‘talk less, talk wise’ style adapted by the US delegate in UNCTAD with the thorough understanding of the situation seems to make the opponent, i.e. China feels much more difficult to handle. China's "wolf warrior diplomacy", an aggressive and often abrasive stance adopted by its diplomats since 2020, seems cannot do anything about this situation. Itself, as well as many other developing countries, are convinced by the US delegate on several issues, ranging from technological and financial aid to free and fair trade.

The generosity, respect for individual rights, willingness to cooperate, the freedom of market economy, the receptiveness to high-tech development and production, earn the US the unshakable leadership position in world trade. Obviously, these are the traits just of that of the problematic Trumpism. Liberalism brings benefits to the nation and the whole kind diplomatically, while Trumpism tweets will continue to provide the general public with a laugh after meals. In this case, perhaps Trumpism is not completely useless.