Mitt Romney rarely passes up an opportunity to attack President Barack Obama for failing to pressure China to stop undervaluing its currency. If he wins the election, Romney has said that his administration will move to label China a currency manipulator on Day One. Some of Romney’s own economic advisers have questioned the wisdom of doing that, arguing it could spark a trade war.
The latest piece of evidence against such a strategy comes not from academics, but from the business community. Every year the U.S.-China Business Council, which represents 240 major companies operating in China, including exporters like Apple and Nike, publishes an annual report about the business climate there. In the latest report (PDF), as last year, currency failed to make the top 25 issues of concern to members. The main reason: More respondents say that they’re in China to reach the growing class of Chinese consumers, not to export back to the U.S.
