美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's Flip-Flops On Economics Move Policies Toward The Status Quo

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's been a big week for President Trump¹ to reverse long-held views. He has darkened his view of Russia and said NATO is no longer obsolete². And then there are his changes on economic policy, which we're going to talk about next. Candidate Trump said he would designate China a currency manipulator on day one.

This week, the president said his administration will not do that after all. He has also changed his view of the Export-Import Bank and also now perhaps on who should head the Federal Reserve. What's happening here? Here's NPR's John Ydstie.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE³: Over and over during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump pilloried⁴ China for manipulating its currency.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm going to instruct my treasury⁵ secretary to label China a currency manipulator, the greatest in the world.

YDSTIE: But this week in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said about China, quote, "they're not currency manipulators." Trump's new view of China aligned⁶ him with the mainstream⁷ conclusion that China stopped manipulating its currency to boost exports several years ago, well before Trump's statements to the contrary during the campaign.

But Derek Scissors, a trade specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, says Trump's opposing characterizations of China are both justified⁸.

DEREK SCISSORS: So it's legitimate⁹ as a candidate to run against the history of Chinese action because that affects the American people. But as president, you have to deal with what's going on now. And with what's going on now, China is not a currency manipulator right now.

YDSTIE: The timing¹⁰ of Trump's change in views was likely related to an annual report on trade manipulators due from the Treasury Department this weekend says Dean Baker¹¹ of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research.

DEAN BAKER: I don't have any, you know, advanced knowledge of the report but I'm assuming it will not be labeling China as a manipulator. And he had to lay the groundwork for that 'cause during the campaign he made that his commitment. As soon as I get in office, we're going to label China a manipulator and take action against them.

YDSTIE: Baker says he's a little disappointed that Trump seems to be dropping the currency issue. Baker believes China still manages its currency in a way that perpetuates¹² huge trade imbalances with the U.S. and hurts U.S. manufacturing.

BAKER: We can't reverse history. We can't get back to where we were 20 years ago and bring back all the jobs that were lost in Michigan, Ohio and these other states. But we could make a difference if we had something closer to balanced trade.

YDSTIE: Also this week, Trump reversed his view of the Export-Import Bank, a government agency that provides loan guarantees to finance U.S. exports. During the campaign, he complained the bank wasn't supporting free enterprise because it was unfairly subsidizing exports from big companies like Boeing, G.E. and Caterpillar¹³.

But on Wednesday, Trump told the Journal he no longer wants to eliminate the Ex-Im Bank. Baker says Trump is no doubt getting an earful on this matter from the CEOs he's been inviting¹⁴ to the White House.

BAKER: These large firms are all politically powerful. And when you're actually sitting there at the White House, they're talking to you.

YDSTIE: Derek Scissors believes Gary Cohn, formerly¹⁵ of Goldman Sachs who is Trump's top White House economic adviser¹⁶, has probably helped move Trump to a more mainstream business view on the bank.

SCISSORS: They want the government involved in certain financial deals. And the free market types - which includes me, by the way - don't want the government involved because the Export-Import Bank doesn't spread the money evenly. It chooses certain companies to support.

YDSTIE: As for Trump's suggestion that he could still reappoint Janet Yellen to another term as Federal Reserve chair, something he said before he wouldn't do, well, after accusing Yellen of keeping rates low to help President Obama, Trump said he'd like to see interest rates kept low for him, too. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.