"Ford, what do you think about the trade deficit?" Lin Zhenhua asked Ford.

"The persistence of the trade deficit for a long time is detrimental to the U.S. economy. As a large number of Chinese goods occupy the U.S. market, American workers are deprived of employment opportunities, causing a large number of social problems. So, we have to change that, and that's what my friends and I are here for. Ford casually pointed to the other Americans who had come with him, and the Americans nodded desperately in agreement.

"You mean that in the future, we will limit the import of Chinese goods to reduce the trade deficit, right?" Lin Zhenhua asked Ford and the others.

"Don't get me wrong, Lin, it's not our idea, it's the proposal of some other members of Congress. For example, we have a congressman named Krisser, who strongly criticized the current foreign trade policy of the United States in Congress, proposed to strictly restrict Chinese goods, and called on all members of Congress to boycott Chinese goods in their daily lives and choose goods that are not made in China. ”

"I'm willing to bet he can't convince anyone, he can't do it himself." Lin Zhenhua smiled and said disapprerovingly.

Lin Zhenhua is not at all worried about the boycott of Chinese goods by Americans in their daily lives. He remembers an incident in 2004, when an American journalist decided on a whim to do an experiment to "reject Chinese goods" and ask his family not to buy any Chinese-made goods throughout 2005.

As a result, the experiment plunged her family into unprecedented chaos, with her children unable to buy shoes and toys, her husband unable to afford sunglasses, and she managed to buy an American-made table lamp herself, discovering that the poles were imported from China. After a year of near-darkness, they finally ushered in the end of their experiments, and it was literally a feeling of coming from hell to heaven. Later, she wrote her experience into a book called "A Year Away from Made in China", which caused a lot of sensation.

"Yes, in fact, he didn't do it himself." Ford admitted, he pointed to himself, and said to Lin Zhenhua and Huang Gang: "To be honest, the penetration of Chinese goods into American society is already pervasive. Look at me, shoes, socks, pants, belts, purse...... It's all made in China, and if I try to change it to made in the United States or Italy, it will cost at least five times the price, and the quality is not necessarily better. ”

"Mr. Ford, you should know that cheap Chinese goods have helped countless poor Americans improve their quality of life, and it would be very unfair to boycott Chinese goods, at least for the poor Americans, for political reasons." Huang Gang interjected.

"You're right, Mr. Huang." "However, we cannot ignore the demands of interest groups." So, I made a special trip to China to discuss with my Chinese friends how to solve this problem. ”

"I suppose you have some plan, don't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought this gentleman from the Agricultural Association to China with you. Lin Zhenhua pointed to a man named Radka next to Ford. As Ford has just introduced, this Radka is the vice president of the North American Agricultural Association, and he is also a large farmer with tens of thousands of hectares of land. The intention of such a person to accompany Ford to China is naturally very clear.

Radkar smiled a little stiffly and said, "Mr. Lin, you are very smart. I have been friends with Ford for many years, and this time he came to China for a visit, and I specifically asked him to bring me to China with me, also to provide some ideas for solving the problem of the US-China trade deficit. As Mr. Huang said, boycotting Chinese goods is an unpopular thing, and I think most of the poor Americans ...... Of course, even middle-class people like me will not support it. …,

However, without reducing imports of Chinese goods, I believe that it is entirely possible to solve the problem of foreign trade deficit, and this way is to ask the Chinese side to increase imports of goods from the United States as well, and as long as the number of imports and exports between the two sides reaches equilibrium, the deficit will naturally not exist. ”

"Mr. Radka, I think your subtext should be that you want China to increase its agricultural imports from the United States, right?" Lin Zhenhua smiled and said for him what Radka was embarrassed to say.

Radkar said: "Of course, I am the vice president of the agricultural association, so I naturally have to think more about the agricultural aspect. ”

"How much of China's agricultural products are currently imported from the United States?" Lin Zhenhua turned his head to Huang Gang and asked. With macroeconomic data like this, Lin Zhenhua is obviously not as clear as Huang Gang.

Huang Gang said: "I don't remember exactly, but I have some general impressions." The largest amount of agricultural products that China imports from the United States is soybeans. Last year, China imported about 5 million tonnes of soybeans from the United States, which should be around $1 billion to $1.1 billion. In addition to soybeans, China imports citrus, wheat, corn and other agricultural products from the United States, but the quantities are not too large. ”

"Yes, yes." Radkar took Huang Gang's words and said, "China's import of soybeans from the United States is a very celebratory event for American soybean farmers. Therefore, every time there is a voice in society to curb China, soybean farmers are opposed. I think if China can import more wheat and corn from the U.S. in the same way that it imports soybeans, then wheat farmers and corn farmers will also support China, and their voices will be much louder than that of soybean farmers. ”

"Increasing imports of wheat and corn is unlikely." "China is self-sufficient in wheat and corn, so it doesn't import too much from abroad. At present, we import hundreds of thousands of tons of wheat from abroad every year, mainly for some special purposes, such as some wheat flour for baking bread, and the ideal effect cannot be achieved with China's own wheat, so we need to import some foreign wheat. ”

Radkar's face showed some disappointment, Lin Zhenhua waved his hand at Huang Gang, turned his head to Radkar and asked, "Mr. Radka, according to your thoughts, how much wheat do you want China to import from the United States?" ”

"Of course, the more the merrier." "If it can reach 3 million, or 5 million tons, it will be a boon for American wheat farmers." ”

"How much does it cost?" Lin Zhenhua asked again, he is engaged in industry, and he does not know much about the prices of agricultural products.

Radkar is well versed in this, and he replied: "The current domestic price of wheat in the United States is $140 a tonne, and if it is calculated at 5 million tons, it will take about $700 million." ”

"That's it?" Lin Zhenhua felt very surprised. Today, $700 million is not a big amount even for Hanhua, let alone for the whole of China. According to China's own calculations, China's trade surplus between China and the United States alone reached $30 billion in 2000, and spending a mere $700 million to buy 5 million tons of wheat from the United States does not seem to be a great deal, right?

Mr. Lin remembers that China's foreign trade surplus would grow in the coming years, leading to a sharp increase in foreign exchange reserves, reaching a staggering $3 trillion in 2011. From these 3 trillion US dollars, 700 million a year, no, even if 7 billion is taken out to buy some imported wheat, it is a trivial matter, right?

"Mr. Radka, if China does buy 5 million tons of wheat from the United States a year, can you guarantee that the American agricultural associations will support China on all occasions?" Lin Zhenhua began to ask naked questions, he knew that the character of Americans is relatively straightforward, especially when it comes to interests, and it is not interesting to beat around the bush. …,

Radkar hesitated for a moment, then replied cautiously, "On all occasions...... It can be a little difficult. However, I think I can at least guarantee that the agricultural associations will be relatively neutral when it comes to China. ”

Rely on, an order for 5 million tons of wheat in exchange for a "more neutral" attitude? Lin Zhenhua was a little dissatisfied, and then asked: "Then what if we buy not 5 million tons, but 10 million tons?" ”

"my_god, if there really is a purchase of 10 million tons, then the agricultural associations will definitely stand firmly on the side of China, and I can guarantee that we will work hard to speak for the Chinese." Radkar's emotions were stirred, 10 million tons of wheat, a billion-dollar order, which was enough to drive those directors of the agricultural association crazy. If he can really make this happen, it is estimated that he will be the next chairman.

"Hehe, what if this amount is increased to 20 million tons? Can you use your influence to convince other interest groups to support China as well? Lin Zhenhua continued to ask. According to Radkar's quotation, 20 million tons of wheat, that is, 3 billion US dollars, is equivalent to one-thousandth of the future 3 trillion foreign exchange reserves, which is too cheap.

"This ......" Radka's face did not have the excitement that Lin Zhenhua expected, but a distressed look: "Mr. Lin, I think this number is a bit too much...... The annual wheat production in the United States is only about 50 million tons, and it is impossible for us to export 20 million tons. ”

"How could it be?" A man named Slittle, who was sitting next to Radka, was in a hurry, he was an assistant to Radka, but he was also a farmer, and he also had his own interests in the export of agricultural products.

"Radkar, you should know that American agriculture is not reaching its full potential, and if we take away some of the fallow land to grow wheat, it will not be a problem at all to increase production by 10 million or even 20 million tons a year. The reason we didn't do this before was simply because the market couldn't absorb so much wheat, and if what Mr. Lin said was true, then we could have persuaded the government to relax its policy on fallow land and increase wheat production. Slett said with a roar.

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