The e-commerce wars just entered surreal territory, with Alibaba founder Jack Ma, a champion of global free trade, meeting the protectionist-leaning President-elect Donald Trump in New York this week to discuss how online retail can create up to 1 million new jobs over the next five years. \u201cJack and I are going to do great things for small business,\u201d Trump said on Monday, as he and Ma stood in the lobby of Trump Tower.
\nThe meeting is the latest sign that e-commerce has moved to the forefront of both international relations and domestic politics, and is expected to be a major point of contention in the Trump administration. One takeaway is that Ma, known for his pragmatism and easy demeanor, might have just earned the adulation of the collective airfreight business if he has figured out a way of toning down the President-elect\u2019s anti-trade rhetoric.
\nDuring his presidential campaign, Trump accused Chinese companies, including Alibaba\u2019s Taobao platform, of \u201coutrageous theft\u201d of American-made goods and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has labeled China \u201ca haven for counterfeits.\u201d Aside from Trump himself, most of his cabinet choices are recent converts to the protectionist platform, and most have only recently embraced his conservative, anti-trade stand.
\nMa said the two shared \u201cideas about how we can improve trade.\u201d Specifically, the two discussed Ma\u2019s ambitions of using Alibaba as a platform to sell U.S.-made goods in China, where products bearing the stars-and-stripes command a premium. China\u2019s middle class is growing, and it would benefit the U.S. to embrace such enthusiastic consumption.
\nProviding Chinese consumers with access to goods made outside of China has long been a key strategy for Alibaba. Ma has said he envisions 40 percent of the company\u2019s business coming from outside China in the next decade. In 20 years, Alizila, Alibaba\u2019s public relations arm, reported that Ma expects his platform will serve \u201c2 billion consumers globally and support 10 million profitable businesses.\u201d
\nThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that trade with China currently supports more than 40 million jobs in the United States. The the U.S. Department of Commerce estimated that American manufacturers. have exported over US$500 billion of goods to China in the past five years alone.
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"