Growth in Free Trade and Jobs Go Side-by-Side… Why are we in Danger as a Country?

As a country we need to recognize that Free trade creates jobs and benefits a county economically as a whole… the citizens of the United States need to start thinking of our country as a publicly traded stock with our actions either increasing or decreasing our country’s “Value” on a daily basis. If this notion could be created and we could get the general populace to feel like real ‘stake holders’ then we would be able to move in unison on major issues (i.e. healthcare, social security, trade, partner countries, etc…) and lobbyist groups would not have their strangle hold on this country.

A perfect example of this situation where Free Trade, jobs and our country’s “Value” are being impacted by lobbyists is the recent issue between Boeing and Delta Airlines. Recently, Boeing has been trying to ensure that the United States Ex-Im Bank loans are available for their increased trade sales pending to Air India; however, Delta Airline has been using their lobby power to prevent Boeing from getting access to the additional credit so Boeing would not be able to sell additional planes to Air India, one of Delta’s main competitors internationally. Delta Airlines has not been able to compete successfully with Air India on the Newark-Mumbai route. If Delta is not competitive then this is an issue that they have to strategically fix internally. It is not appropriate for Delta to use its influence with Senator Cantor from Virginia to sabotage the growth of one our country’s last major industries and the 1000s of jobs that weigh in the balance. The DeIta Lobby as well as the many other Lobby groups continually pull our country’s real “Value” lower and lower each day, while increasing the value of other countries and companies such as AirBus. AirBus would be a clear winner if Delta gets their way in this situation along with the other countries that provide labor/jobs for the Airbus production.

I am not speaking as a Republican or Democrat…this is a bipartisan issue.

This just happens to be a clearly black and white example that illustrates ‘Free Trade’ must be protected and encouraged as a vital part of a country’s existence.

I just want the people of the United States to come out of their 60 year comma, come together, and say “No” by voting in masses again for candidates that speak for the people!

Our Govt Missed the Course on ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ when it comes to China

Many at the top in the US Government apparently have not read Dale Carnegie’s book or have chosen to simply refute its findings. When dealing with another, try to be appreciative and see the situation from their angle and work backwards to achieve the mutually beneficial goal … this sums up a strategy that would be very effective when dealing with the Chinese (but it probably wouldn’t be good for his re-election).

For example, greeting the soon to be President of China, Xi Jinping in Washington after his first visit in 27 years with a two second hello and then an inquisition on his policies for trade, currency, and human rights for the rest of the time just does not seem right, especially when he is still the Vice President of China and cannot trump his current boss President Hu. It just seemed so obvious that this invitation to visit the White House was so staged for Obama’s re-election propaganda machine as if he were throwing free meat to his Labor Union voters that are chomping at the bit for blood.

In the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Obama again is slamming China at the WTO for not giving us complete access to all the precious metals they are mining…he is now setting up another “New Task Force to Press China’s trade and Business Practices”.

If he only spent this much effort trying to reduce our deficit and fix the major issues in our economy like Social Security and Medicare…we would all be in such a better position for ourselves and our children.

China is not the enemy and once the people of our country realize our politicians and media are just using China as an escape goat for their inability to lead and make our country a place where business and education flourish again, then we will remain in this state of slow deterioration that likes of Rome and other great nations eventually succumbed to ….

I am just saying… hope some cares about this stuff as well because I am just in shock on a daily basis when reading the news. History does not lie and this is the truth.

Will Cheap Capital from China Stop? Who should worry....

Based on latest data, China is becoming more savvy by way of investing its $3.2 trillion in reserves. Because of our politicians inability to agree on a real budget and deficit reduction plan, our economy has not only been down-graded, but worst of all, our currency keeps loosing more of its value.

China currently owns $1.73 trillion in US treasury notes as of June 30th which is slightly up from last year, but more disturbingly, China has divested their dollar portion of their reserve holdings from 65% to 54% as of June 30. This trend could easily signal a trend and drive interest rates higher in our economy as attracting new investors would require higher returns.

Our leadership keeps talking about currency manipulation and deficit issues with China, but if we corrected these issues, our economy would still see little material impact... we certainly would not see the creation of the +4 million jobs we have lost since 2007.

We need a government that is focused on our economy at home and that does not create 'red-herrings' in order to be re-elected. We need politicians that care about our country more than they care about being re-elected.

CNN REPORT REBUTTAL: ChinaMart Hosts Match-Making Event to create Jobs in LA, Not Sabatoge....

As the CEO of China Mart Los Angeles...I provided CNN recently with my rebuttal to their iReport posted on China Mart Los Angeles and the Tibetan Protesters activity at China Mart on Feb 16th during our hosted event for VP Xi Jinping's business delegation. Here is CNN's iReport: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-751104?ref=feeds/latest and...

Below is my rebuttal which is not meant to be political in anyway, just a comment on how groups with issues whether Tibetan or other should work on effecting change in more constructive ways.

As the CEO of ChinaMart Los Angeles (USA), I am always concerned about other countries rights for freedom; however, “Sabotaging” our event at China Mart Los Angeles and having your Tibetan-freedom advocate, Giovanni violently jump up and down hitting people and causing a commotion is not the right way to go about effecting change for Tibet. Human rights and freedom are very big topics politically and need to be addressed in the proper forum...in fact, there was much discussion and pressure on the US side during VP Xi’s visit to this effect. However, I find it immature and insulting to have any guest at the ChinaMart call our efforts in “Creating Jobs in the US” and “Increasing Exports from Los Angeles” which account for 1 out of 5 jobs in Los Angeles, “Garbage or Nonsense”. Gandhi and many other great pacifists throughout history made much more progress using passive protests…I do have footage of the event and Giovanni was very aggressive, borderline violent…and it wasn’t a stunned look on the “Chinese Delegates faces you saw”…it was fear. I am not sure many would agree with your tactics...as these tactics resemble terrorism more than reform. There are better ways to be heard than sabotaging legitimate gatherings that are honestly trying to help our Los Angeles community which is hurting from lack of jobs and ways to make keep their own families fed. I write clearly in my recent book on ‘Doing Business with China: The Secrets of Dancing with the Dragon’ that understanding a culture is fundamental to making any relationship succeed, so I would appeal to your more logical side to work harder at building those relationships you need to succeed, instead of the strategy of sabotage.
Sincerely, Stephen Perl, CEO China Mart USA