WP: It's Showtime For Treasury Secretary Paulson In Meetings With Chinese

[DeepModem Mom]

It's Showtime For Paulson In Meetings With Chinese
By Paul Blustein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page D01

Can the Bush administration's new Treasury secretary pull off a feat in China that eluded his predecessor -- and save American jobs in the process?

Henry M. Paulson Jr., leaves today on a trip to Asia that is to include his first visit to China since taking the helm in July. Hopes are high, in Congress and in the business world, that the former Wall Street titan can use his powers of persuasion to secure changes in Chinese policies that critics view as unfair.

U.S.-China economic relations is an area where Paulson seeks to make an impact, based on his long experience doing business with the Chinese when he headed the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs.

His predecessor, John W. Snow, tried and largely failed to get China to adjust the value of its currency enough to help American manufacturers. Many members of Congress, U.S. business executives and economists have long complained that the Chinese yuan is kept at an artificially low level -- about 8 per dollar -- that makes the nation's exports too cheap, to the detriment of American workers in competing industries.

The first big rollout of Paulson's message to the Chinese came yesterday in a speech....Specifically, he said, Beijing must take steps to combat piracy of patented products, shift its economy away from dependence on exports and toward greater consumer spending, and open its financial system to foreign competition. As for the currency issue, he called it one of "several critical, immediate challenges" that China faces.

None of that was a departure from Snow's arguments, Treasury officials acknowledged. But they cited one difference: The speaker was Paulson, who boasts close ties with Chinese leaders and deep knowledge of the country's financial system, not Snow, the former railroad executive reputed to have had little clout at the White House....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301978.html