Washington, Sept. 16 (ANI): Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is hoping his tough talk on China policy will win him votes, but few of his big business donors or Republicans support what he's saying or believe he'd follow through if elected.
And if he did, many analysts said that he'd likely spark a disastrous and counter-productive trade war that would hurt both American consumers and the workers he's trying to protect.
According to the Politico, but Romney advisers said voters shouldn't expect him to back off the tough talk if he gets elected, and other experts said that fears of a 'trade war' are overblown since the Chinese need the American market just as much consumers like cheap Chinese imports.
Romney has renewed his sharp line of attack on President Barack Obama's China policy, arguing in a new ad that he would take a much brawnier approach to the abusive Chinese trade practices.
He has repeatedly said one of his first acts as president would be to formally label China a currency manipulator and slap punitive tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S.
"I want to make sure that if a nation cheats like China has cheated, we call them on the carpet and don't let it continue," Romney said in Virginia.
But there are fears that Romney's threat - if actually carried out - could damage the U.S. economy.
According to the report, the Chinese could retaliate by slashing purchases of U.S. debt, driving up our interest rates.
Any new tariffs on Chinese exports would also increase prices for U.S. consumers, who have grown accustomed to cheap Chinese goods filling U.S. store shelves.
Branding China a currency manipulator also could stop cooperation in other areas of dispute and force all disagreements to go before the WTO, which could take years to reach a ruling of uncertain consequences, the report said.
"What would happen is we would badly damage our relations with the Chinese while also raising the question of consistency regarding other nations that also manage their currency," Tony Fratto, a former Bush administration economic adviser and spokesman, said. (ANI)
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