Trade is often presented as a simple exchange. One country sells, another buys, and both benefit. In reality, trade only works when the exchange is balanced. When it is not, one side accumulates power while the other grows dependent. This is why equalizing trade with China is not a radical idea but a necessary one.
For years, trade with China has followed a familiar pattern that clearly shows that China exports far more than it imports. Western markets remain open, while China’s market remains tightly managed. The result is a steady flow of wealth in one direction. Over time, that flow becomes a river and then a reservoir of power.
Equalizing trade does not mean cutting ties or closing borders. It means restoring balance. If goods flow out of China in massive volumes, there must be a comparable flow back in. Without that balance, trade stops being mutual and becomes extractive.
Some argue that market forces will correct the imbalance. Experience shows otherwise. The system has been in place for decades, and the gap continues to grow. Others claim that tariffs alone can solve the problem. Tariffs may slow trade temporarily, but they do not address the structure that allows imbalance to persist.
Equal trade requires clear rules and enforcement. It means setting limits that prevent any one country from accumulating unchecked advantage. It means recognizing that trade is not neutral when one participant controls its currency, subsidizes industries, and restricts competition.
Critics often warn that equal trade will cause short term disruption. That may be true. But the cost of doing nothing is far greater. Continued imbalance deepens dependence and reduces options. At some point, the ability to act independently disappears.
There is also a moral dimension. Fairness matters. Workers in democratic societies should not compete against systems that suppress wages, control labor, and ignore standards others are expected to follow. Equal trade restores dignity to labor and accountability to markets.
China would not be harmed by equal trade. It would still trade. It would still grow. What would change is the pace and the terms. Growth would come from productivity and innovation rather than imbalance. That is a healthier foundation for any economy.
To address this issue, We Were Funding China’s Growth That Must Stop! by Edouard Prisse makes a clear case that equal trade is not punishment. It is a correction. It is not about stopping China but about stopping a system that rewards excess and ignores consequence. Equalization takes time, patience, and political will, but it works precisely because it addresses the root problem.
Without equal trade, every other solution is temporary. Subsidies strain budgets. Tariffs provoke retaliation. Supply chain shifts take years. Equal trade changes the incentives that shape all of these outcomes.
We Were Funding China’s Growth That Must Stop! explains why equalization is the only path that leads to stability rather than escalation. It shows how the imbalance developed, why it persists, and how it can be corrected without chaos.
For anyone trying to understand what fair trade actually means and why it matters now more than ever, this book offers a grounded and necessary perspective.
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 imbalanc,e such as 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.