Is the US-Chinese special trade status strengthening or weakening the more coercive elements of collectivist rule in Eastern Asia (censorship, trade restrictions, etc.). Furthermore, if indeed that is the case.. will it continue to erode their power? Does the trade status benefit the individual American far more than if there were no special trade status? How about a Chinese individual?
The US-Chinese relationship has opened up more of Eastern Asia for trade than just about anything else I can think of. The nations in that area have to allow commerce amongst themselves to compete with competitors in US and Europe.
Yes, Eastern Asia except for recent events in China itself is becoming more free especially in the area of economic freedom. More economic freedom almost always leads to more prosperity.
The trading between the USA and nations of the Eastern Asia and Pacific Rim benefits both parties as they trading would not take place without that. In the long term, the increasing size of the division of labor has benefited the entire world . Clearly the USA has been the beneficary as the industrial organizations have had to compete with low cost labor in these countries and therefore become better to survive. But just looking at the situation, the USA is paying increasinly worthless blips on computer screens called dollars for real stuff. You can't get a better deal than that.
What of employment rates relative to the total goods and services and their inflation-adjusted prices?