At the time of this writing, the United States seems to be pushing itself to the brink of a trade war with China. The timing couldn’t be worse.China’s economic growth over the past twenty years has led to greater stability throughout the region, new economic ties, and less dependence on trade with the West. Should punishing U.S. tariffs lead to less U.S./ China trade, regional trade will almost certainly increase, leaving the U.S. out of a thriving market. Keep in mind that the Trans-PacificPartnership was an existing, regional organization before the U.S. ever joined the negotiations.在錄制本節目時，美國似乎將自己推向了與中國貿易戰的邊緣。時機糟透了。過去二十年來，中國的經濟增長導致整個地區更加穩定，新的經濟聯系以及對西方貿易的依賴性降低。如果懲罰性的美國關稅導致美中貿易減少，幾乎可以肯定的是區域貿易將增加，從而使美國脫離繁榮的市場。畢竟在美國加入談判之前，跨太平洋夥伴關系組織是一個現有的區域性組織。