Among the problems avoided with the defeat of Mitt Romney in the American presidential elections there is also the "trade war" with China, which would have been unleashed by Romney's grim intentions: he had declared that, as soon as he was inaugurated as President, he would officially stamp the China as a "currency manipulator", thus opening the door to the imposition of protective tariffs.
Now, in the US Treasury report released yesterday, that excommunication of "manipulation", as expected, does not exist. But, yielding to the protectionist impulses of some industrial circles, the report claims that the Chinese yuan is "significantly undervalued".
This judgment is ungenerous. It reflects only Sino-US bilateral headaches (the US trade deficit with China remains high), but not macroeconomic realities. These realities say that the Chinese current surplus decreased from 10% of GDP in 2007 to 2,3% in 2012, while the Chinese real exchange rate (see graph) has appreciated since the fixed exchange rate with the dollar was eliminated about 30%.
