Posted on 09/05/2003 6:42:27 PM PDT by maui_hawaii
INSANA: Talked about free trade today, two recent agreements. But the area that seems of most concern in that regard happens to be China.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah.
INSANA: At the moment. You yourself have talked about the manufacturing jobs being lost overseas. China does not appear interested in letting its currency float freely. They seem to manipulate it lower right now to make their exports more attractive overseas.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Right.
INSANA: Did Secretary Snow get an agreement on that or not?
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, doesn't look like it. I haven't talked to him. The one thing I know for certain is Secretary Snow did deliver a strong message from the administration, that we expect our trading partners to treat our people fairly, our producers and workers, and farmers, and manufacturers, and we don't think we're being treated fairly when a currency is, is controlled by the government. We believe the currency ought to be controlled by market and ought to reflect the true values of the respective economies.
And so John Snow delivered the message, and I'm waiting for him to return, and I look forward to hearing their response to him, and then we'll deal with it accordingly.
INSANA: Given the complexities of the relationship, needing China to work on North Korea, what, what levers do you have to pull with respect to the currency should China not want to revalue upwards or--
PRESIDENT BUSH: Or let the market revalue.
INSANA: Yeah.
PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, the relationships are complicated. I mean there's a lot of issues in any relationship, and therefore we'll have to assess all the issues.
But the other thing that's important to know is that China doesn't move very quickly. It's going to take a while for our point of view to sink in, and therefore it's going to require a certain degree of patience on our part to make it clear to China that this is in their interest, not just because of bilateral issues, but because the international world will be interested in their currency being valued properly.
INSANA: Japan used to do that though. They would just nod and smile and then--
PRESIDENT BUSH: (Inaudible)--tell you, (inaudible) a good negotiator. And they're friends, and they still, they still play with their currency some, and we, we, we're talking to them as well.
The best thing to do with these countries, however, is not to, is not to scream and shout and thump the table here at home. It's to send a clear message to them so that they know our position so they can digest what we've told them and that we can work together as friends to resolve any problems we have.
Maybe he is talking to those on FR.
I don't know about others here but much of the time I wasn't talking directly to China, but rather Washington...
I am hopeful that someone listens.
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Quote of the day for a paragraph devoid of concrete content award.
Washington doesn't want anyone to say anything to China about anything. China is hands off for anyone and everyone and has been for a while. They do what they want to whomever they want and they are right about it.
Employment tanks.
Manufacturers complain.
We scream and yell.
Washington refuses to say ONE word for a long time.
Washington stalls and stalls. Washington drags its feet.
FINALLY we bitch and complain enough, and garner enough attention that they know that we will vote based on their inaction and inattention.
Washington seeks to pacify those who complain...until the election is over. Most likely because they fear the piper.
Then he says "we shouldn't thump the table..."
Problem is, the message wasn't sent. And no one wanted to send it. And they still don't want to send it. At least until the office of President is threatened...
If they DID send it, they said nothing to anyone.
They run their China policies from back rooms and inform us of nothing. We are stupid civilians and they are all knowing govt fat heads.
They treat us accordingly.
If jobs go up and there are 2 million new jobs in America in the next 12 months... I WANT THE TRADE DEFICIT WITH CHINA TO COME DOWN. A LOT. I want LONG TERM fundamental CHANGE. That definately means kicking Motorola's ass and having them invest somewhere else.
If there is not 2 million jobs created in the next 12 months he will probably be forced to do something otherwise the vote is going to express itself.
In reality the issue will be dropped as soon as its convienient to do so.
Odds are I am not there yet...
Maybe 20 years off...
I am giving him a hard time, but I am definately glad that GW has taken this up.
This currency thing is a long term issue. I hope he gets that. Balance in Asia is a key long term goal. Its not only good for us but for China too.
China doesn't want a defunct economy. They sure as hell don't want one that is reliant on us for half of their growth. Eventually the factories will stop moving to China.
FDI isn't going to save them in the long term. It works for now though so thats what they do. They have the economic bull by the tail, but definately not by the horns.
China needs an economy that works from the inside out. Not from the outside in.
That is not some anti-China talk either.
The problem is China is going to have to face its own fears to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.
Essentially we have been pandering to China's fears, but not helping overcome them.
There are socialists and there are stupid ass socialists. They are falling into the latter category.
Odds are depending on many things, GW will probably win due to a lack of a realistic non-nut job on the other side of the ticket, but there might be a shake up in the House and Senate.
Then again, the issue of judges is pissing a lot of people off.
Karl Rove probably has a case of Excedrin in his office.
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They have one and are building an even better one. Each time we move and industry there it is assimilated into their system and continues to function independently within that system. We have moved China foreward 60 years in the last 25. The only reason they want trade is to bring in more to assimilated into their system. In five to 10 years they will be completely economically independent. They are producing somewhere in the order of over 60,000 engineers and scientists per year to support their own independent technology and economy.
I did like it.
I think it is VERY good that he said SOMETHING about China. Especially now. That is a very good step.
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