South Dakota, China And Economic Ties, Press & Dakotan, Mar. 14, 2023.
China is a handy bogeyman these days — and not entirely without reason.
But our relationship with that communist country is complicated, a fact Sen. John Thune noted last Friday when speaking to students at Yankton High School.
The senator acknowledged that legitimate threat that China poses to the U.S. and other nations, ranging from military strength to technological appropriation and human rights abuses.
But China is also one of America’s biggest trading partners, just as the U.S. is one of China’s largest markets.
“Economically, they need us and we need them. We have a symbiotic relationship,” Thune said.
This is by no means a defense of China so much as a reminder that things aren’t as black and white with U.S.-China relations as recent political rhetoric might paint it at times.
South Dakotans have certainly encountered this in recent months. Gov. Kristi Noem has been beating a decidedly anti-China drum, pushing legislation that would prevent the sale of agricultural land to certain countries such as China. She has also labeled China as “evil,” among other things.
It’s part of a recent national trend, particularly among some Republicans, of vilifying the Chinese on various fronts.
But there is that business aspect which undercuts our perceptions of reality in many sobering ways.
For instance, according to a report by the U.S.-China Business Council, China is South Dakota’s top market for exported goods, most of which is agricultural in nature. In 2017, this state exported $804 million in goods to China, which was enough to support 9,600 jobs here.
Amid the tariff wars during President Donald Trumps’ tenure, South Dakota lost $370 million in exports intended for China, according to the Argus-Leader. That was a 40% drop.
“We have a leverage there, for sure,” Thune told the YHS students in regard to trade with China, “but they buy a ton of South Dakota soybeans, and I have talked to ag organizations across South Dakota. (The anti-China rhetoric) is weighing heavily on their minds.”
The agricultural ties to China extend beyond exports.
Chinese interests own Smithfield, which is the largest pork producer in America and has a major plant (and is one of the biggest employers) in Sioux Falls. Also, China owns 79% of Tyson Foods, America’s leading chicken producer.
As Thune noted, it is a symbiotic relationship, and it’s one that is especially sensitive to the prevailing mood swings in international relationships.
None of this is to say that warnings about China are hyperbolic or should be dismissed. China has long viewed America as a sort of “enemy,” and that perception is still a guiding force in its thinking. Meanwhile, the U.S. attitude toward China may be hardening, but it was never particularly cordial in the first place. There is a long history of distrust and paranoia that exists between these two nations.
But the shades of gray — or green, as in the color of money — cannot be dismissed from this puzzle, either. As such, the atmosphere could remain a source of heartburn for South Dakota agricultural producers for some time to come.
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