As Goes Trade, So Goes the Nation

Posted by Vriz on May 1st, 2008

 

When Barak Obama met with the Indianapolis Star’s Editorial Board, he too was asked about the U.S.-China trade in the context of the larger U.S.-China relationship.  Barak took his time getting around to talking about trade, but he acknowledged that there are some “indisputable” problems in our trade relationship with China. 

China manipulates its currency; maintains non-tariff barriers; subsidizes its export industries; and has a hugely problematic environmental record.  We in the

U.S., on the other hand, said Obama, have a problem with our own inability to ensure the safety of Chinese imports through inspections.

In Senator Obama’s view, negotiating effectively with the Chinese is not only a question of maintaining a strong economy, but also a matter of securing our own future as a strong nation.  “There’s never been a nation on Earth that saw its economic standing decline relative to the rest of the world and maintained its military pre-eminence,” said Obama.  Senator Obama said that “we’ve been taken to the cleaners” in out negotiations with the Chinese and that, if elected President, he would have a meeting with China’s President Hu to set our economic relationship with China on an equal footing. 

Obama agreed that even though low-cost goods have been helpful in keeping the inflation in the U.S. down, in his words “it doesn’t do you much good to pay $10 less on some sneakers, or $100 less on a flat screen TV, when you don’t have a job.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 9:33 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable, Currency Manipulation, Economic Security, National Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

One Response to “As Goes Trade, So Goes the Nation”

  1. Twila Vargas Says:
    November 13th, 2008 at 2:24 am

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