“Come on ... China has total estimated coal deposits of 4,490 billion tons. Why would they import from the US?”
Arbitrage? If it is cheaper for me to import my product then to use it myself, while exporting my product and making money off of it, the variance between the two is my net.
If I can manipulate my currency to show that positive net, why wouldn’t I do it? Especially if there is no one regulating it.
Methinks the US will sell no coal to China in the foreseeable future.
Of course the US coal miners may vote to work for 15 cents an hour.