Entries for May 24, 2007

"It's going to be the perfect storm" is how one knowledgeable Capitol Hill insider described the upcoming efforts by protectionists of both parties in Congress to pass trade legislation punishing China for running a $200 billion-plus trade surplus with the United States. This week's high-level "strategic dialogue" between a Chinese trade delegation and American officials from the White House and Congress did nothing to change that assessment. There's too much momentum behind the push, the insider told me, from members who worry about the economic impact of a weak Chinese currency and from those who fret about China as a potential military threat.