Why America needs to counter China’s occupation of African trade

The United States has been significantly losing its global influence and international presence in the last 15 years. With much of the developed world trying to outsource production to China and other parts of the world, we are becoming unable to rely on ourselves to produce many goods within our own borders.

But what has our largest rival China been doing to take the lead in the great power competition? China has been allocating immense resources and money to the continent of Africa, which is the richest in natural resources in the world.

Letting China have such influence pushes the United States to second place. With that being said, China will have the power to damage the American economy tremendously in the future or even cut goods going to the U.S. due to its production done domestically. And on top of that, the extremely influential political and economic ties China has with third world countries gives them the upper hand against the US with access to land, capital and labor.

China has boosted their trade and economy tremendously from the 2000s to the present day due to taking over global trade, especially in Africa. Trade between China and African nations is supplemented by the vast levels of investment China makes in the continent. China funds many of the factories and mines to get valuable materials such as platinum, cobalt and coltan. In 2022, China had a trade surplus of $282 billion, largely because of their relationship with Africa according to the China Africa Research Initiative.

This is what puts the United States behind one of our biggest rivals. When we opened up to China in the 70s and 80s, we started outsourcing labor to Asia because it was cheaper and more efficient. This was the way to go at the time, but in the present day, no one wants to buy the expensive and minimal products of America, and instead, they import the much more affordable products made possible by China’s relaxed labor laws.

In 2000, the United States was the world’s largest trading partner, but has lost that title in the new millenia to China. This is why America needs to step up in investing in Africa and not relying solely on outsourced labor and goods.

America needs to stop focusing only on humanitarian aid and human rights issues and instead worry more about its own people and to provide for them. We can stop humanitarian aid and have the same positive effect on underdeveloped nations through economic investment. This would be similar to China’s approach which gives them economic prosperity along with stronger ties with African countries.

Evidently, the Chinese are taking over how the world is being run in regards to trade and influence. We need to start mirroring what China has been doing in Africa and get America back up to being number one again. 

Without a first-world country using its wealth and power to stabilize Africa, the continent would fall deeper into civil unrest. The United States has to tackle the Chinese in Africa in order to secure our international interests and alliances along with building a prosperous economy. Without the Americans in Africa, we are letting China enjoy the benefits of abundant natural resources and political influence, while we get nothing.