Sinomania!

Longstanding China critic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is leading a pack of anti-China Senators in election year pandering to big union and other contributer interests by urging the Obama administration to -once again- declare that Beijing is "manipulating" its currency and solely responsible for the loss of American manufacturing jobs.

The anti-China coalition consists of:

• Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
• Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
• Robert Byrd (D-WV)
• Carl Levin (D-MI)
• Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
• Russ Feingold (D-WI)
• Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
• Sam Brownback (R-KS)
• Jim Bunning (R-KY)
• Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
• Ben Cardin (D-MD)
• Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
• Bob Casey (D-PA)
• Arlen Specter (D-PA)

Anyone familiar with these politicians knows that they are the chorus in all condemnations against China. Sherrod Brown is a bomb thrower of particular reknown being a co-founder of the Taiwan Congressional Caucus.

The hypocrisy in the Senators' action is rich. All are beholden to special interests that require them to play a China card on wedge issues such as trade and human rights. Yet many come from states that benefit greatly from expanding Chinese trade, the USA's third biggest and fastest growing export market. It is afer all US multinational corporations that lead the charge in outsourcing to China. And there is no matching call against the Japanese Yen which is actively supported by Tokyo to be just as advantageous in trade.

Election year politics aside regular readers know that Washington is powerless to force currency appreciation on China beyond what is already happening in the markets....

Labels: china policy, chinese trade, congress, currencies, free trade, hypocrisy, schumer

# posted by Sinomania! : 2/25/2010 02:39:00 PM