“Will the Treasury Department’s semi-annual report on foreign-exchange-rate practices, due to be released in April, label China a ‘currency manipulator,’ as is being increasingly speculated? If so, that conclusion would spark bilateral negotiations on an ‘expedited basis’ and open the door to ‘remedial’ legislation to compel China to revalue its currency. For Congress and President Obama, the issue is not the undervalued renminbi per se, but the large bilateral trade deficit with China. To them, currency revaluation is a proxy for reducing the trade deficit to zero — or better yet, turning it into a surplus. But trying to legislate trade balance is a fool’s errand.” (03/17/10)