Sewell Chan of the New York Times wrote an article on October 22 on the White House’s proposal to restrain trade imbalances and work with G-20 nations to “agree to curb persistent surpluses and deficits that could contribute to the next financial crisis.” The White House released a letter from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner he wrote to G-20 nations to reduce external imbalances (positive or negative) below four percent of gross domestic product within the next four years.

Chen writes that “Four countries have current-account surpluses exceeding 4 percent: Saudi Arabia (6.7 percent), Germany (6.1 percent), China (4.7 … Continue Reading

Reporting on a new “study” on U.S.-China trade, Reuters reporter Doug Palmer writes:

Unfair Chinese trade and currency practices caused the loss of as many as 2.4 million U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2008, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The report by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute said China’s “currency manipulation” was a major cause of the United States’ trade deficit with China, though it said other Chinese practices contributed to the deficit.

While Palmer mentions that EPI is “left-leaning,” he fails to mention that the organization receives 30% of its funding from trade-averse labor unions, and that its … Continue Reading

Reporting on new criticisms from China of US “protectionism,” Reuters reporter Chris Buckley states:

China has accused the United States of straining their vast economic relationship through a slew of anti-dumping measures, adding to growing tensions between the two global powers….

The warning reflected the increasingly testy trade relations between China and the United States.

Buckley demonstrates a basic misunderstanding of how trade remedies (i.e., anti-dumping, countervailing duty or safeguards) cases are initiated and decided in the United States.  Under US law, an anti-dumping investigation results from a petition filed by a private firm (or firms) and/or its union pursuant to commercial … Continue Reading

Covering President Barack Obama’s trip to China a Helene Cooper, Michael Wines, and David Sanger by-lined piece in the November 14th New York Times begins:

When President Obama visits China for the first time on Sunday, he will, in many ways, be assuming the role of profligate spender coming to pay his respects to his banker.

That stark fact — China is the largest foreign lender to the United States — has changed the core of the relationship between the United States and the only country with a reasonable chance of challenging its status as the world’s sole superpower.

China is our … Continue Reading

Reporting on the October 2009 US trade deficit and the bilateral deficit with China, the Associated Press’ Martin Crutsinger and Christopher S. Rugaber conclude:

American manufacturers contend that China is manipulating the value of its currency, keeping it undervalued by as much as 40 percent in relation to the dollar. That gives Chinese manufacturers a competitive advantage and makes U.S. goods more expensive in China.

While Crutsinger and Rugaber are correct that American manufacturers still allege that China’s currency is undervalued by 40%, the journalists fail to mention that this statistic is from 2003, and that China’s currency – the … Continue Reading