The U.S. and China are often portrayed as economic equals, with the media suggesting that America desperately needs China to sustain its economy. This narrative flips reality on its head: China’s reliance on the U.S. far outweighs America’s dependence on China. It’s perplexing that while most in the media are aware of the millions of U.S. jobs “relocated” to China—slashing middle-class earnings and devastating entire cities and regions—they often downplay the broader story. They acknowledge China’s massive IP theft and unfair trade policies, yet somehow seem to side with Xi Jinping, a brutal dictator whose purges of his own government echo Stalin’s ruthlessness. The U.S. opened its markets to China decades ago, hoping to foster collaboration and a mutually beneficial relationship. Instead, China has leveraged this access to aggressively subsidize industries like steel, aiming to eliminate competition, while expanding its military—particularly its navy—raising questions about its true intentions. Without U.S. markets, China’s economy risks a catastrophic crash, leaving millions unemployed and unable to pay their bills, a vulnerability that underscores America’s leverage in this uneven relationship.
In the grand theater of global economics, it seems China is the desperate suitor, clinging to the U.S. like a lovesick teenager. While the media paints them as star-crossed lovers, the reality is more of a one-sided romance. China’s economy is like a house of cards, with the U.S. market as its shaky foundation. If Uncle Sam decided to take his toys and go home, China would face an economic meltdown worthy of a soap opera finale.
Export Dependence: China’s Economic Lifeline
China’s economy hinges on exports, with the U.S. as its largest single market. In 2023, the U.S. imported $536 billion in goods from China—electronics, textiles, machinery—accounting for roughly 14% of China’s total exports. Let's face it, China lies ALL THE TIME about their economy and population. The Truth could be that US Exports are a MUCH HIGHER percentage of their economy. The media often frames this trade as vital for the U.S., but the reality is starkly different. If the U.S. market closed, China’s manufacturing sector would implode, leaving millions jobless and unable to cover basic expenses—a domino effect that could destabilize its entire economy.
"The media inexplicably aligns with Xi Jinping—a brutal dictator whose Stalin-like purges have targeted his own government"
Technologically, China is the eager apprentice, still dependent on U.S. maestros like Intel and NVIDIA for the semiconductors that power its dreams of innovation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. can reshuffle its tech deck and partner with allies, leaving China to ponder its next move in this high-stakes chess game. America’s diversified economy can pivot to alternative suppliers like Vietnam or Mexico, or boost domestic production. The U.S. consumer market, worth over $16 trillion annually, absorbs disruptions more easily than China’s export-driven model can withstand such a seismic loss.
Technological Dependency: The Semiconductor Chokepoint
China has made strides in tech innovation, but it remains critically dependent on U.S.-controlled technologies, especially advanced semiconductors. American companies like Intel, NVIDIA, and TSMC (via U.S.-aligned Taiwan) dominate the global supply chain for cutting-edge chips. U.S. export controls, tightened since 2020, have already hampered China’s tech ambitions—Huawei’s smartphone business plummeted after losing access to U.S. chips.
The U.S., while reliant on China for consumer electronics assembly, generates its tech sector’s core value through domestic innovation and intellectual property. American firms can reshore production or partner with allies like South Korea, making the U.S. less vulnerable to supply chain shocks than China is to tech sanctions.
Intellectual Property Theft: A Digital Heist
China’s reliance on U.S. technology comes with a darker side: rampant intellectual property (IP) theft. U.S.-based companies setting up manufacturing in China often find their products copied, plagiarized, or outright stolen by local firms. These firms then partner with local, state, or federal government officials who provide funding to bring the duplicated product to market—often at half the price. This isn’t limited to physical manufacturing centers; Let’s not forget the digital heist caper: China’s IP theft escapades are like a bad action movie plot, with American companies playing the role of unsuspecting victims. Yet, despite this betrayal, some media outlets seem to have a soft spot for Xi Jinping—a dictator with a penchant for purges that would make even Stalin tip his hat. Chinese hackers have stolen trillions in IP from American companies over the internet, with losses estimated at $600 billion annually by the FBI. Some U.S. firms, like Nortel Networks in the 2000s, were driven out of business after Chinese hackers stole proprietary tech, handing it to competitors like Huawei. This systematic theft undermines the very collaboration the U.S. sought, turning innovation into a weapon against American businesses.
Industrial Subsidies: Undermining Fair Competition
The U.S. opened its markets with the hope of fostering a fair and cooperative partnership, but China has taken a different path. Beijing has aggressively subsidized key industries like steel, flooding global markets with cheap products to undercut competitors. In 2023, China’s steel production accounted for 54% of the global total, with state subsidies enabling prices so low that U.S. and European steelmakers have struggled to compete, leading to factory closures and job losses. Adding to the imbalance, China’s trade policies are blatantly unfair—they sell freely to the U.S. while erecting barriers that make it nearly impossible for American companies to access their market, a fact the media often glosses over despite its role in exacerbating the U.S. job losses they report on. This predatory pricing and market asymmetry aren’t collaboration—they’re calculated moves to dominate global industries, exploiting the access the U.S. provided in good faith.
China’s tactics have drawn global scrutiny. Each year, the 166-member World Trade Organization (WTO) receives around 300 complaints with nearly half targeting China for unfair trade practices! While China floods markets with subsidized steel and racks up WTO complaints like they’re going out of style, America holds the Trump card: financial dominance via the almighty dollar. With China’s yuan struggling for international fame, Beijing is left playing by America’s rules in this global Monopoly game., including subsidies, dumping, and IP violations. This disproportionate share of complaints reflects China’s systemic disregard for the rules of fair competition, further straining the relationship the U.S. hoped to build.
Financial Leverage: The Dollar’s Dominance
The U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency gives America unparalleled financial power. China holds over $800 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds as of early 2025, tying its economic stability to the U.S. financial system. Most global trade, including China’s oil imports, is dollar-denominated, forcing Beijing to play by America’s rules.
China’s push to internationalize the yuan has gained little traction—only 4% of global payments used the yuan in 2024, compared to the dollar’s 40%. If tensions escalate, U.S.-led sanctions could cut China off from dollar-based financial networks, as seen with Russia post-2022. Such a move would devastate China’s ability to conduct international trade, while the U.S. faces no equivalent financial vulnerability.
Domestic Strength vs. Export Reliance
The U.S. economy is anchored by a $20 trillion domestic consumer market, with over 330 million consumers driving 70% of its GDP. This self-sufficiency insulates America from external trade shocks. China, however, still leans heavily on exports—about 20% of its GDP—despite efforts to shift toward domestic consumption. A U.S. market shutdown would spike unemployment in China’s industrial hubs, while American consumers could adapt by redirecting spending internally or to other trade partners.
Strategic Leverage: Lessons from the Trade War
The 2018–2020 trade war exposed this imbalance. U.S. tariffs hit both economies, but China felt the sting more acutely. Its exports to the U.S. dropped 16% in 2019, GDP growth slowed to a 30-year low of 6%, and Beijing struggled to pivot to a consumption-driven model. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy grew 2.3% in 2019, buoyed by domestic demand. American businesses diversified supply chains—imports from Vietnam surged 35%—while China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods like soybeans had limited impact, as farmers found new markets in Brazil and Argentina.
Counterpoint: The Cost of Decoupling
Decoupling wouldn’t be painless for the U.S. In the short term, higher consumer prices and supply chain disruptions could hurt, particularly in tech and manufacturing. With that said, the U.S. economy has proven its resilience. In 2018, when Trump imposed a 25% import tariff on steel, prices initially spiked but within just a month or so, was back to below the pre-tariff level and stayed lower for nearly 2 years until the post-pandemic surge, eventually settling below pre-tariff levels by 2022 and still lower today in 2025. This adaptability stems from the U.S. economic structure: it’s not dictated by a single authority but driven by millions of individuals seeking opportunity. Unlike China, these opportunities don’t involve stealing an ally’s IP, products, or markets. China, however, with its structural vulnerabilities—export dependency, tech gaps, and financial exposure—would suffer far more. A 2023 study by the Rhodium Group estimated that a full U.S.-China trade rupture would shave 1.6% off U.S. GDP but 4.9% off China’s, underscoring the disparity.
Conclusion: An Uneven Balance of Power
The media’s portrayal of mutual dependency between the U.S. and China obscures a critical truth: China needs the U.S. far more than the U.S. needs China. Without access to American markets, China faces an economic collapse—millions unemployed, bills unpaid, and social stability at risk. Despite reporting on the U.S.’s loss of millions of jobs to China, the devastation of entire regions, the massive IP theft, and China’s unfair trade policies, much of the media inexplicably aligns with Xi Jinping—a brutal dictator whose Stalin-like purges have targeted his own government, eliminating rivals and consolidating power. It makes you wonder why the media is on the side of China. Do they hate Trump so much that they will cozy up to a brutal dictator, just out of spite, even at the detriment of the USA and their very own neighbors? Meanwhile, China’s actions betray the spirit of collaboration the U.S. sought when it opened its markets. Subsidizing industries like steel to eliminate competition, racking up nearly half of the WTO’s annual complaints, systematically stealing trillions in U.S. IP, and aggressively expanding its military—particularly its navy, which now boasts over 370 ships compared to the U.S.’s 290—raises a troubling question: Why? As geopolitical tensions simmer—over Taiwan, trade, or tech—the U.S. holds the upper hand. While both nations would feel the pain of a deeper rift, China’s survival hinges on maintaining ties with the U.S., a reality that shapes their uneasy coexistence in an increasingly fractured global order.
