Tired of hearing about China? Stop the cash flow

from Mountain Democrat, Friday, February 10, 2023

Public Notices 

Do you get tired of hearing about China?

Now we have ﬂoating surveillance balloons over our country. We are yet to know for sure what this is about but time will tell. China is probably scouting out the next land or business purchase. They may have come up with an easy way to determine which military bases have available adjacent land. It doesn’t matter if it’s for sale; they can come up with enough money to buy the property. All they have to do is to keep piling up the money from everything they sell to the United States.

Alarms went o in Washington when the Fufeng Group, a Chinese agricultural company, bought 300 acres of land and set up a milling plant last spring in Grand Forks, N.D. The plant is a 20-minute drive from an Air Force base that, according to North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, hosts a space mission that “will form the backbone of U.S. military communications across the globe.”

Source: WSJ

Ten years ago Smithﬁeld Foods was purchased by China’s leading pork producer, Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. (now called WH Group Ltd.), for $4.72 billion.

Keep in mind China has 1.5 billion people — a lot of people to feed. China would love to gain as much of our farmland as possible to gain more control of our food production. This is one area where China really needs us. Our agricultural exports to the country increased by more than 27% from 2020-21. The Chinese wouldn’t need us if they could gain control of our farmland. It’s also a plus for them if they can have it close to our military bases. This provides a twofold beneﬁt. In the middle of the cornﬁeld they can watch everything we are doing or even attempt to thwart what we are doing

The U.S. trade summary reveals the depth of our trade with China.

In 2021 U.S. exports to China were $151.1 billion, a 21.4% ($26.6 billion) increase from 2020; U.S. imports from China were $506.4 billion, a 16.5% ($71.6 billion) increase; and the trade deﬁcit with China was $355.3 billion, a 14.5% ($45.0 billion) increase from $310.3 billion in 2020.

China was the United States’ thirdlargest trade partner in 2021.

In 2021 8.6% of total U.S. exports of $1.8 trillion were exported to China and 17.9% of total U.S. imports of $2.8 trillion were imported from China.

Mechanical appliances, sound recorders and TV sets were the most traded commodity sectors. In the last ﬁve years, U.S. exports of those commodities show an upward trend from $25 billion in 2017 to $36.1 billion in 2021. The percentages of imports of those commodities from China out of total imports from the world are impressive with 37.0% in 2017 and 29.3% in 2021.

In 2021 U.S. exports of agricultural products to China continue to show an upward trend at $31.6 billion, an increase of 27.5% ($6.8 billion) from $24.8 billion in 2020.

In 2021 China remained the major source of U.S. imports of textile products. U.S. imports of $50.3 billion of textile products from China constituted 32.6% of the total U.S. imports of those products.

Additionally, in 2021, China remained the major source of U.S. imports of furniture, bedding, lamps, toys, games, sports equipment, paint and other miscellaneous manufactured items. In 2021 the U.S. imports of $68.5 billion of miscellaneous manufactured items from China constituted 53.2% of total U.S. imports of those commodities.

Source: Government data

What can we do about China? Try to buy products not made in China. You have to shop but it’s possible. Shrinking the cash ﬂow to China is crucial to reducing its growing economic and military power. By all means, please do not sell them your land.

Dr. Glenn Mollette is a national columnist and the author of 13 books.

Crime Log

The following was taken from El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office logs:

Feb. 2

12:26 a.m. California Highway Patrol officers booked into jail a 25-year-old man suspected of DUI on Francisco Drive in El Dorado Hills. He was later released.

7:46 a.m. Vandalism was reported on Fort Jim Road in Placerville.

8:19 a.m. Vandalism was reported on Nelson Court in Camino.

12:10 p.m. Deputies booked into jail a 31-year-old man suspected of burglary, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance and illegal drug paraphernalia on Merchant Circle in Placerville. He was listed in custody in lieu of $130,000 bail.

12:50 p.m. Grand theft was reported at a school on Garden Valley Road in Garden Valley.

3:43 p.m. Deputies booked into jail a 27-year-old man suspected of possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a controlled substance on Mother Lode Drive in Placerville.

Feb. 3

12:21 a.m. California Highway Patrol officers booked into jail a 25-year-old man suspected of disorderly conduct, revisiting arrest and a probation violation on Reservation Road in Placerville. He was listed in custody in lieu of $3,000 bail.

12:31 a.m. Vandalism was reported on Tri Lane in Cameron Park.

5:39 a.m. California Highway Patrol officers booked into jail a 32-year-old man suspected of DUI on Greenstone Road in Placerville. He was later released.

9:46 a.m. Illegal entry was reported on Sundown Court in Placerville.

1:29 p.m. Deputies booked into jail a 43-year-old woman suspected of child abuse at a Coach Lane motel in Cameron Park. She was released on $50,000 bail.

7:44 p.m. Deputies booked into jail a 57-year-old man suspected of vandalism and a probation violation on Red Hawk Parkway in Placerville. He was later released.

9:12 p.m. Deputies booked into jail a 52-year-old man suspected of DUI and driving on a suspended license on Highway 50 at Missouri Flat Road in Placerville. He was listed in custody in lieu of $32,500 bail.

9:41 p.m. Vandalism was reported at a restaurant on Town Center Boulevard in El Dorado Hills.

11:34 p.m. Deputies booked into jail a 24-year-old man suspected of possession of a controlled substance and illegal drug paraphernalia on Green Valley Road in Rescue. He was later released.

Feb. 4

12:46 a.m. California Highway Patrol officers booked into jail a 24-year-old woman suspected of DUI on Highway 50 at Cameron Park Drive in Cameron Park. She was later released.

5:16 a.m. Grand theft was reported on Quad Lane in Cameron Park.

6:55 p.m. California Highway Patrol officers booked into jail a 47-year-old man suspected of DUI on Lotus Road in Shingle Springs. He was released on $15,000 bail.

8:04 p.m. California Highway Patrol officers booked into jail

Announcements

a 19-year-old man suspected of DUI and driving on a suspended license on Latrobe Road (town not specified). He was listed in custody in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Feb. 5

1:32 a.m. Vehicle burglary was reported on Twin Oaks Road in Cameron Park.

1:44 a.m. Deputies booked into jail a 64-year-old man suspected of obstruction on Red hawk Parkway in Placerville. She was released on $10,500 bail.

2:03 a.m. Deputies booked into jail a 47-year-old woman suspected of obstruction on Red hawk Parkway in Placerville. She was released on $10,500 bail.

6:17 a.m. Deputies booked into jail a 58-year-old man suspected of felony grand theft on Grizzly Flat Court in Grizzly Flat. He was listed in custody in lieu of $260,000 bail.

9:57 a.m. Burglary was reported on North Shingle Road in Shingle Springs.

11 a.m. Battery was reported at a hotel on Main Street in Georgetown.

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But I won’t convince Pompeo. Or you, probably. I ask Pompeo why America needs 54,000 troops in Japan and 36,000 in Germany. “We won those wars! Now those countries should defend themselves.”

Xi Jinping is the “singular greatest threat in the history of our nation,” says Pompeo. If we bring all the troops home, that will “put the American people at enormous risk.”

Pompeo calls Edward Snowden “a traitor” who should be executed. Snowden stole documents from the National Security Agency that showed how our government illegally spied on Americans.

I call Snowden a hero for risking his freedom and career to reveal the truth.

Pompeo says secrets Snowden revealed endangered Americans. But our spies often exaggerate their importance. For instance, the NSA claimed its mass surveillance stopped 54 terrorist attacks. Then the number dropped to seven. Then government reviews concluded that mass surveillance did not stop a single attack.

“You can’t just steal American secrets,” says Pompeo. “If you find something illegal, there is a process to correct it.”

But people who used that process had their homes raided — their careers ended. I understand why Snowden sneaked out of the country.

Another area where Pompeo and I disagree is Trump’s tariffs.

“Tariffs mainly punish the American consumer,” I point out. Tariffs make goods more expensive.

“Tariffs are a very blunt instrument,” acknowledges Pompeo, but they “solve a very real challenge. How is it you prevent an adversarial nation from screwing you in their trade relationships?”

The Chinese do cheat. They steal intellectual property. But tariffs haven’t stopped that. The Chinese also foolishly subsidize some industries. But so do we!

Free trade benefits everyone. That’s one reason I’m a libertarian.

Pompeo does want to cut government. Why isn’t he a libertarian?

“I grew up libertarian,” he says. “The idea of less government power being better for the American people is something that is very near and dear to my heart.”

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”