May be its because the advisors to the US government suck, and they always did.
Nobody beats the Chinese when it comes to business. Its in their genes. A Chinese can arrive somewhere with nothing but a rice straw matte - and a year later he owns a restaurant or a laundry or a grocery shop. And the chinese government has all options open, since they have complete control inside China, other than the US government in America.
May be we should start taking lessons in Mandarin... ;)