May 07, 2010
The Washington Post devoted a whole article to the views of a delegation of “senior U.S. executives ” selected by the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. These executives told readers that China’s industrial policy was a far bigger concern than the value of its currency.
It is understandable that executives of U.S. corporations operating in China would argue this case. A drop in the dollar relative to the yuan will improve the U.S. trade situation for two reasons. First, it will make U.S. exports cheaper for buyers in China, leading them to buy more. Second, it will make Chinese imports more expensive for people in the United States, leading the U.S. to consume fewer goods from China and more domestically made goods.
The U.S. executives in China only care about the former effect. The latter effect — the impact of a lower dollar on imports from China — is likely to be the far more important one, since we import far more than we export. Rather than presenting the views of these executives as the simple truth about U.S. trade with China, the Post should have presented them as the views of a narrow interest group. It should have presented the views of independent experts or representatives of other groups to put these views in context.
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