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China monthly trade surplus with U.S. reached all time high in June

An organization dedicated to a free China is raising concern over a recent report that the communist regime's monthly trade surplus with the United States soared to a record high in June.



The one-month $26.9 billion surplus amounts to an increase of more than 85 percent from the previous year, according to China's customs agency, pushing the overall surplus for the first half of the year past $112 billion and shattering the symbolic $100 billion barrier for the first time.

Among those concerned about this report is Curry Kenworthy of the China e-Lobby, who says granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Beijing has only benefited the communist government. "It sounded like this was going to be more of a balanced thing, and it never has," he observes. "It's always been unbalanced."

Kenworthy says it is not just about a flood of cheap Chinese goods. He is also concerned with how this will affect America's national security, remarking that to have such a tremendous deficit with a potential enemy is dangerous. "If there's a possibility we might have a war with someone, then it's nice to have your own industry," he says, "and it's also a healthier basis for an economy, I believe."

Drawing on historical facts, Kenworthy notes that during WWII the U.S. was able to out-produce just about any other nation in the world with its industry. But he says that has changed now -- and that the U.S. get almost everything from China or other countries, except for a few items produced by the American defense industry.

Although the Chinese government has claimed that it is not actively pursuing a trade surplus and has tried to cool the boom, Kenworthy remains skeptical about how serious the Chinese really are about reigning in the trade gap. He says the U.S. should use punitive measures if Beijing fails to show results.