Business
The failed bid for Unocal, a small US oil firm, by CNOOC, a state-owned company from China, perfectly captured America's ambivalence towards open markets.
While US policy makers regularly trumpet their belief in free trade and so on, the reality can be different. American cotton farmers receive huge subsidies, while not so long ago, the Bush administration slapped duties on imported steel. In the case of Unocal, woolly thinking and anti-Chinese hysteria combined to sink CNOOC's $18.5bn (£10.5bn) bid. Yesterday, the Chinese firm withdrew its offer, citing the strong opposition the bid had generated on Capitol Hill.
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