Bloomberg–Tensions between the U.S. and China Seem to Ease as the G-20 Approaches

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner refrained from pushing for current-account targets while China softened its stance on the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing days before a summit of the Group of 20.

The Fed’s move to buy $600 billion of Treasuries could contribute “tremendously” to global growth, Vice Finance Minister Wang Jun said after Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum finance chiefs met in Kyoto, Japan, Nov. 6. At the same gathering, Geithner said current-account deficits or surpluses aren’t “something that is amenable to limits or targets.”

Policy makers from Asia to South America have warned that the Fed’s decision to pump liquidity into the U.S. will depress the dollar and spark flows of capital to emerging markets that threaten asset-price bubbles. China’s Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said Nov. 5 the U.S. step may hurt global confidence, while rejecting state-planning style targets for trade deficits.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, * International News & Commentary, Asia, China, Credit Markets, Currency Markets, Economy, Federal Reserve, Foreign Relations, G20, Globalization, Office of the President, Politics in General, President Barack Obama, The U.S. Government, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner