China

With a new administration poised to begin on January 20th, it's understandable that many wonder how trade will be affected with China in a new administration.

Sigh…An interesting world we live in. Markets and headlines never cease to be extreme and the world is gripped by virus uncertainty.

This week, China set the price of their currency to the US dollar at 7.0136 per dollar (above 7) which has not occurred in many years. A weak currency makes Chinese goods cheaper for purchasers outside of China and the United States deems this to be a practice that is unfair competition with US companies. For that reason, the United States (for the first time in 10 years) has labeled China a currency manipulator country.

This past week I was asked to moderate a panel of visiting Chinese officials with US technology investors. The event, sponsored by the government of Nanking in cooperation with CNBC Asia, was well attended and provided a fascinating insight into relationships between China and US economic interests.

China’s economy is slowing down, the United States economy appears to be slowing as well, company earnings are being revised downward, and global caution seems to be rising. Is a recession just around the corner?