Editing Protectionism (section)

===China===
In 2010, [[Paul Krugman]] wrote that China pursues a mercantilist and predatory policy, i.e., it keeps its currency undervalued to accumulate trade surpluses by using capital flow controls. The Chinese government sells [[renminbi]] and buys foreign currency to keep the renminbi low, giving the Chinese manufacturing sector a cost advantage over its competitors. China's surpluses drain US demand and slow economic recovery in other countries with which China trades. Krugman writes: "This is the most distorted exchange rate policy any great nation has ever followed". He notes that an undervalued renminbi is tantamount to imposing high [[tariff]]s or providing export subsidies. A cheaper currency improves employment and competitiveness because it makes imports more expensive while making domestic products more attractive. He expects Chinese surpluses to destroy 1.4 million American jobs by 2011.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/opinion/15krugman.html?src=me Taking On China</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/09/paul-krugman-taking-on-china.html | title=Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Taking on China }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/macroeconomic-effects-of-chinese-mercantilism/ | title=Macroeconomic effects of Chinese mercantilism | date=31 December 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/opinion/01krugman.html?mtrref=blogs.worldbank.org&gwh=B3231576E9FD9BDAEC5EBD56EFDCC866&gwt=pay | title=Opinion &#124; Chinese New Year (Published 2010) | website=[[The New York Times]] | date=January 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/12/paul-krugman-chinese-new-year.html | title=Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Chinese New Year }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/opinion/25krugman.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=BC216C8BA8F1415F915F9DE7DFDFCCD14CA846&gwt=pay | title=Opinion &#124; the Renminbi Runaround (Published 2010) | website=[[The New York Times]] | date=25 June 2010 }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web | url=https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/06/paul-krugman-the-renminbi-runaround.html | title=Economist's View: Paul Krugman: The Renminbi Runaround }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/opinion/13krugman.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=24A582538B90C0FDEA00892926110017&gwt=pay | title=Opinion &#124; China, Japan, America (Published 2010) | website=[[The New York Times]] | date=13 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/09/paul-krugman-china-japan-america.html | title=Economist's View: Paul Krugman: China, Japan, America }}</ref>

In June 2015, the international community, through the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]], rejected this notion and assessed the renminbi as suggested to be no longer undervalued.<ref>{{cite journal |title=2015 External Sector Report—Individual Economy Assessments |journal=International Monetary Fund |date=June 26, 2015 |page=13 |url=https://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2015/062615a.pdf |access-date=11 April 2025}}</ref>

Later that year, American economist [[Charles Calomiris]] wrote that US presidential candidate at the time [[Donald Trump]] had falsely characterized the trajectory of the renminbi's exchange rate in nominal terms and especially so when using the [[w:Exchange_rate#Real_exchange_rate_equilibrium_and_misalignment|real exchange rate]], and that a recent devaluation by the [[People's Bank of China|PBC]] was a passive one where inaction would've led to an even steeper devaluation by market forces, understandably so after the disappearance of "a lot of [Chinese economic growth] low-hanging fruit that was easily picked in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Calomiris W. |first1=Charles |title=Trump Gets His Facts Wrong On China |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/charlescalomiris/2015/08/25/trump-gets-facts-wrong-on-china-currency-depreciation-manipulation/ |website=Forbes |access-date=12 April 2025}}</ref>