Here are a few quotes from some of the GOP Presidential candidates about the Chinese currency issue and trade with China generally. Romney and Pawlenty seem to be the China hawks, with Huntsman more dovish (in particular, see the last part of the Huntsman quote below).
VAN SUSTEREN: The IMF is predicting that China's economy is going to surpass our own in the year 2016. First of all, how does -- what does that mean to us? What does that mean to the average American? How do we feel that? And secondly, why is China able to surpass us?
ROMNEY: China is able to surpass us in part because over last couple of decades, American policy has been so relaxed towards China. We've allowed them to manipulate their currency to make our products more expensive than theirs. And that has allowed them to come into our country and replace a lot of jobs in this country. …
We, frankly, have been turning a blind eye to China's policies with regards to our economy for far too long, and America has to get serious about saying, We want to make America the most attractive place for business in the world, not China. And the consequence of not doing that would be potentially seeing our standard of living decline and over time, seeing China build a military that could rival any in the world.VAN SUSTEREN: How do we actually, though, turn that around? China is our bank. We owe them, you know -- you know, so much money that it's almost breathtaking. They hold more of our debt than any other nation. You know, what do we actually do to sort of turn that around so that they don't take our jobs, so that our dollars aren't going there to get their cheaper goods?
ROMNEY: ….
… you have to make it very clear that to trade with America on the most favored basis that you have to honor our laws. You have to allow your currency to float. You have to make sure that the products that come into the U.S. have not been, if you will, pirated through technology that's been stolen by various companies in China. We're going to have to be serious with China about enforcing our laws, enforcing agreements that are fair and free and not giving them the kind of free ride that they've had so far.
The Obama administration has declined to name China a currency manipulator, a designation that would trigger negotiations with China over the value of the Chinese yuan. Geithner said Wednesday that the currency is “substantially undervalued.”
The U.S. shouldn’t hesitate to take action against China, Pawlenty said.
“We have some individuals and entitles around the world who don’t play by the rules. And so as that happens, the answer can’t be, we’re afraid to call that out; we’re afraid to hold them to account under the systems and rules and frameworks that have been established for such violations,” he said.
Pawlenty added that “it’s really hard to tell off your banker,” a reference to China’s huge holdings of U.S. Treasury securities. ...
Pressure should be kept on China to allow its currency to rise faster in value though Beijing already recognizes the need for a stronger "market-based" yuan, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman said on Thursday.
Huntsman, a former Utah governor who stepped down as U.S. ambassador to China in April, spoke of the Chinese currency issue as he kicked off his bid for the White House in the key battleground state of Florida.
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The issue dogged U.S.-China relations during his time in Beijing, where Huntsman was known for championing the agenda of U.S. businesses worried about the overvalued yuan, intellectual property rights and unfair competition.
"You've got to keep hammering on the value of the Chinese currency," Huntsman told reporters, after meeting with local business leaders at a restaurant in the heart of the Miami's Cuban exile community.
He said the yuan had appreciated slowly since it was depegged from the dollar in June 2010 but was still "17 percent discounted" or undervalued against the dollar.
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"It (the yuan) must increase more aggressively as it finds a proper market valuation," Huntsman, 51, said.
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Asked about U.S. leverage in the currency debate with China, Washington's biggest lender, Huntsman said Beijing already recognized the need for a stronger currency.
"Whether we or Brazil or (the) European Union are talking about it, they've discovered themselves that they have to have a market-based currency," he said.
"The leverage first and foremost is the fact that they recognize that they must do it themselves," he said without elaborating.
