The following is BAD, a really STUPID thing to do to your largest, or near largest creditor, because they might decide to retaliate, like refusing to buy any more of our debt, and/or sell what they have, and if they did both at the same time, well, the outcome would not be good for the US>
Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. hasn’t decided if it will formally label China as a country that manipulates its currency, as the Obama administration backed away from comments Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made last week.
Speaking in an interview on CNBC, Biden said “no judgment” has been made by the administration “that there’s been a manipulation, because as you know that word triggers in trade agreements certain responses.”
Still, Biden said the U.S. would be “blunter with the Chinese” and that China must “play by the rules.”
Biden’s comments came after Geithner said in written responses to a Senate panel last week that President Barack Obama’s administration “believes that China is manipulating its currency,” the yuan.
After Geithner’s comments, analysts said Obama may be gearing up to take a tougher line with the nation that is the biggest foreign investor in U.S. government debt and has run up record trade surpluses with the U.S. since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Using a form of the word “manipulation” has legal implications. The Treasury is required to report twice a year to Congress on whether other countries are using their currency to gain an unfair trade advantage. Some lawmakers have sought legislation to expand U.S. sanctions against countries with currencies perceived as undervalued. The determination could also lead to a WTO complaint against China.
bloomberg.com |
