It feels like a win. You find a product that looks just like the brand-name version, but at half the price. It ships fast. It works well enough. You feel like you’ve made a smart choice. But what if that bargain, repeated by millions of people, adds up to a much bigger loss?
In fact, the trade relationship between the United States and China has created one of the largest and most one-sided financial flows in modern history. Americans buy billions of dollars in goods from China every year. In exchange, China buys significantly less from the United States. That trade gap becomes a surplus for China, which it uses to gain influence, support state-owned enterprises, and pursue long-term objectives.
As Edouard Prisse explains in his book We Are Funding China’s Growth That Must Stop!, this is not just a problem of economics. It is a strategic issue. The money earned through trade helps China fund infrastructure projects in other countries. It supports military modernization. It is used to gain control over supply chains, shipping routes, and key technologies.
And the source of this money? It starts with purchases made by everyday Americans. That bargain you found online. That appliance at the big-box store. That cheap replacement part. One by one, they seem harmless. But added together, they fuel a system that works against the long-term interests of the United States.
The idea of global trade is not wrong. Trade can bring value, innovation, and cooperation. But when trade becomes one-sided, it creates risks. It weakens domestic industries. It puts critical production in the hands of foreign suppliers. It gives power to those who may use it to shape the rules in their favor.
Prisse argues that the U.S. needs to adopt a new approach—one that values fairness and balance over short-term savings. His proposal is called Equal Trade. It does not ask for complete separation from China or an end to all imports. It asks for a system where the value of what we buy matches the value of what we sell. This kind of balance would help restore manufacturing, support jobs, and reduce the flow of money that helps China build its strategic advantage.
Consumers may feel like their individual choices do not matter. But they do. Patterns in buying shape the direction of entire industries. If we support only the cheapest option, without looking at where it comes from or what it supports, we are making a silent decision about the kind of world we are building.
Governments and companies need to act too. Reshoring production, investing in local supply chains, and setting fair trade policies are all part of the solution. But none of it will happen without public awareness. That awareness starts with asking a simple question: what are we really paying for? The bargain might be good for today. But the long-term cost is much higher than the price tag suggests.
Read We Are Funding China’s Growth That Must Stop! to understand why the cheapest option is not always the smartest and how to protect the future we cannot afford to discount.
Here is a link to purchase: www.amazon.com/dp/1967963053.
We Were Funding China’s Growth That Must Stop! by Edouard Prisse is a sharp, well-researched examination of how decades of misguided free trade with China have fueled the rise of America’s greatest rival. Drawing on the economic insights of John Maynard Keynes, Prisse explains how the 2001 decision to welcome China into the global trade system created a one-sided relationship that drained Western industries while empowering Beijing’s authoritarian regime. The book not only exposes the dangers of this ongoing imbalance—job losses, weakened manufacturing, and growing geopolitical risks—but also offers a clear solution: shifting from “free trade” to “Equal Trade,” a value-balanced system that ensures reciprocity and protects democracy. Both a warning and a roadmap, this book is essential reading for policymakers, business leaders, economists, and citizens who care about safeguarding the future of free societies.
