maintaining a significant trade surplus with the United States, maintaining a current account surplus larger than 3.0 percent of the country\u2019s GDP, and repeated intervention in the foreign exchange market to keep its currency from appreciating.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
China, Japan, and South Korea join Germany on the list for meeting the first two criteria; Taiwan was added for large current account surpluses as well as \u201cpersistent purchases of foreign exchange in 2015, keeping the New Taiwan dollar low against the US dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are no concrete penalties for being placed on this list, just \u201cconsultations\u201d as well as a \u201cgreater threat of sanctions in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
the US Treasury said the country\u2019s big trade surplus with the United States and Germany\u2019s large budget surplus \u201crepresent substantial excess saving.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surplus, the Treasury reported, could be used to support German demand, and in turn reduce \u201cthe current account surplus and [contribute] markedly to the euro-area and global rebalancing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yes, the German trade surplus is something to be envied. \u00a0They have managed, with their industrial giants such as Siemens and Daimler, plus the vaunted \u201cMittelstand\u201d companies as well as expertise in robotics, computing, pharmaceuticals, etc., to remain strong exporters even in the face of globalization and imports from China and other low-wage countries. \u00a0And their budget surplus is equally impressive, especially given that not all that long ago, prior to the Hartz reforms in the early 2000s, Germany was known for high unemployment and a stagnant economy.<\/p>\n
And their success in bringing the budget into balance is all the more impressive given the role Germany has played in the Greek bailouts and, of course, the costs they\u2019ve absorbed in the massive refugee influx, not to mention the massive expenditures in the former East Germany in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s embarrassing to see the U.S. criticize their success, and demand they become as profligate as the United States in order to even things out and make everything \u201cfairer.\u201d \u00a0One hopes that the government officials tapped for these \u201cconsultations\u201d do so with at least a bit of shame.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Image: \u00a0https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/container-ship-cargo-ship-cargo-560789\/ (public domain)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s like a scene out of high school, in which the slackers seek to sabotage the nerds because the class is graded on a curve, and the nerds\u2019 success imperils the slackers \u201cB.\u201d \u00a0But it\u2019s playing out in international affairs instead, as the U.S. has put Germany on its new \u201cunfair trading partners\u201d list. Why? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":4442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,377],"class_list":["post-4440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-germany","tag-trade-deficit"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n