Strength in emerging economies raises trade fears

WASHINGTON (AP) — China and other emerging nations are lifting the global economy, but their strength threatens to come at the expense of the United States and Europe.

The emerging countries are benefiting from low-priced exports fueled by artificially low currencies. That’s raising the prospectof trade frictions for years to come.

In its latest economic forecast, the International Monetary Fund predicts the world economy will expand 4.8 percent this year and 4.2 percent next year. That would far surpass last year’s 0.6 percent decline, the worst performance since World War II.

Growth in China is forecast to be 10.5 percent this year and 9.6 percent next year. Brazil’s economy is expected to grow 7.5 percent this year before slowing to 4.1 percent next year.

But the IMF forecast, released Wednesday, points to lingering weakness in the United States and Europe after the worst recession in decades.

The agency said that the global economy will require a balancing act: Countries with huge trade and budget deficits such as the United States will need to boost exports. And countries with big trade surpluses such as China must reduce their dependency on exports and boost domestic demand.

But the US has argued that China has manipulated its currency to gain trade advantages and helped suppress US exports. The undervalued Chinese currency has made Chinese goods cheaper for American consumers. It’s also hurt US companies by making their products costlier in China.

China said in June that it would move to a more flexible exchange-rate policy. But the yuan has risen by just over two percent since then.

Lawmakers facing midterm elections have put pressure on the Obama administration to impose trade sanctions on China. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday stepped up pressure on Beijing to make more progress to let its currency fluctuate. In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Geithner said the United States would make currencies a major topic at international finance meetings this weekend in Washington.

In a question-and-answer session, Geithner rejected the notion that other nations are letting the United States take the lead in trying to get China to revalue its currency. Critics say other countries fear upsetting Chinese leaders and losing sales for their companies. But Geithner did say the IMF should play a bigger role in monitoring how countries manage their currencies.

“It is not good for the world, for the burden of solving this broader problem, the exchange rate problem, to rest on the shoulders of the United States,” he said.

He said other nations have been hurt by China’s undervalued currency and would like to see Beijing adjust its currency.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York, noted that China’s undervalued currency is a threat not only to the United States but also to many European and Asian nations. As an example, he pointed to the Bank of Japan’s announcement this week that it planned to buy bonds to expand its money supply.