Left Standing on Empty Docks
It’s the fashion in some circles these days to blame all of America’s trade woes on the competitive advantages enjoyed by low-cost and government-protected foreign producers. The claim has some truth to it. Cheaper overseas labor costs and exclusionary markets in some countries do indeed contribute to the U.S. trade deficit. But there’s another side to the problem that too many Americans don’t like to acknowledge. That’s the well-documented fact that in a lot of cases the United States has simply become complacent, lazy or indifferent when it comes to international competition. Market shares or even entire markets may thus go by default to more alert and ambitious foreign traders. Consider the following story, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Two years ago the Census Bureau and China’s State Statistical Bureau agreed to exchange data. The information that was swapped--which allows insights into such things as demographic trends, population concentrations, income and educational levels and buying habits and preferences--is regarded by market researchers as pure gold. U.S. census data is regularly scrutinized by many of the largest corporations as an invaluable aid in discovering potential new markets and making plans and decisions accordingly. For the first time, then, the U.S. government and through it American exporters had uniquely in hand the statistical data for obtaining a sharper picture of market possibilities in China.
What was done with this treasure house of information? Just about nothing.
Census Bureau economists distilled the data into a 187-page report. But the bureau then decided that because of budgetary restraints it couldn’t publish its study. Instead, in time, it was included in a Commerce Department publication, “Country Market Profile: The People’s Republic of China,” which was offered for sale at $300 a copy. That’s not a lot of money for a major corporation, but it is enough to deter a lot of smaller potential exporters. Since last December fewer than 10 copies of the publication have been sold.
One of the early purchasers was the New York office of the Japan External Trade Organization, which immediately recognized the significance of the material. Its copy was sent off to Tokyo, where in a matter of weeks it was translated into Japanese and distributed free to more than 700 trading companies, manufacturers, financial institutions, transportation companies and others interested in doing business with China. Another 500 copies were printed and put on general sale, for about $20 each.
Meanwhile, and at long last, the Census Bureau has found a small American publisher to distribute its study, for $35 a copy. At that price it might find more willing buyers. But while this version is awaited, Japanese traders have a nearly one-year jump on their possible U.S. competitors in obtaining a better understanding of the Chinese market. The United States had valuable information in hand, and let it slip away. And so once again, as so often in recent years, Americans can find themselves standing on empty docks and worrying about their trade deficit while cargo ships flying other flags steam toward a large new market.
