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Currency wars

Tweeting the dollar down

America’s president, but not its Treasury, names currency manipulators

货币战争

“推”低美元

指认“货币操纵国”的不是美国财政部，而是美国总统

Most governments are happy when foreigners want their bonds, especially when those foreigners are long-term holders, like central banks. But America is different. It worries that some foreign governments buy its debt to keep the dollar pricey and their own currencies cheap. This “currency manipulation” gives other countries a competitive edge, raising their own trade surpluses and America’s deficit.

大多数国家的政府都乐见本国债券受外国投资者青睐，如果那些外国人是外国央行等长线投资者就更是如此了。但美国却不同。它担心某些外国政府购入自己的国债是为了推高美元、让本国货币保持在低位。这种“货币操纵”会给其他国家带来竞争优势，增加它们的贸易顺差，扩大美国的贸易赤字。

Mr Trump’s tweet was at odds with his Treasury Department’s assessment. Every six months it must tell Congress if any big trading partner is manipulating its currency. (Offending governments are scolded, followed by other chastisements if they do not mend their ways.) But its latest report, published on April 13th, refrained from branding anyone a manipulator.

特朗普的推文与美国财政部发布的评估结果存在矛盾。美国财政部每半年必须向国会提交报告，说明美国主要贸易伙伴是否有操纵货币之嫌。货币操纵国会受到批评，如果不改弦更张，美国将进一步施以惩罚。但美国财政部在4月13日发布的最新报告并没给谁贴上货币操纵国的标签。

The report did admonish China for its persistently large trade surplus in goods with America. But Russia was barely mentioned. The recent decline in its currency was, after all, prompted by the Treasury’s decision to strengthen sanctions. 报告确实就中国对美国长期的庞大商品贸易顺差提出了警告，但对俄罗斯几乎只字未提。毕竟，卢布最近大幅贬值是由美国财政部决定加大对俄制裁而引发的。

The list itself does not bear much scrutiny, however. As well as India, it comprises China, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland. But India has no overall trade surplus and Germany has no currency of its own to manipulate. The list also ignores Thailand and Singapore, which have intervened over the past year to curb the rise in their currencies, according to Mr Setser.

但这份名单本身却经不起推敲。除印度外，名单中还有中国、德国、日本、韩国和瑞士。然而，印度整体上不存在贸易顺差，德国也没有自己的货币可操纵。塞瑟表示，这份名单还漏掉了泰国和新加坡，这两个国家在过去一年都曾以干预措施遏制本国货币升值。