Europe is more worried about the U.S./China trade imbalance than is our own government.

The dollar is falling.  Old, but continuing news. You can't keep a strong dollar with record trade deficits.  This is not complex.  It is simple.

The European members of the Group of Seven (G-7) leading industrial nations are debating whether to publicly acknowledge concerns about the weak dollar.  A Wall Street Journal article, "G-7 Debates Whether to Discuss Dollar," has this, but I can't link to the subscription-only piece. Notable quotes from the piece follow after "read more."

When I found out Mike Johanns has resigned as U.S. Ag Secretary, I detailed my criticism of him in this post, believing he would run for Chuck Hagel's Nebraska Senate seat against former Nebraska Senator (and former Neb governor) Bob Kerrey.  The race, if it occurred, would combine ag and trade issues like no other in the country.  Bob Kerrey was very good on ag competition issues in the past, and Johanns has been poor.  Johanns has also been a supporter of status quo trade policy, but Kerrey's position on trade reform is not clear.

But Kerrey may not run, according to recent reported rumors. Johanns probably will run.

David Kruse, a commodity broker in Iowa, recently wrote this piece echoing and expanding upon my criticism.  Will Johanns try to change his tune during the campaign?

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The CommStock Report - 09/27/07
Copyright 2007 CommStock Investments, Inc.
David Kruse
Retransmission, copying, or forwarding without permission is Illegal


Who followed Queen Ann [former USDA secretary Ann Veneman] as Sec. of Agriculture? Oh, Yeah. That guy from NE. What was his name? He left before George W's second term expired. Went home to NE to run for the U.S. Senate. The farm bill wasn't done. Beef export markets weren't meaningfully reopened to Japan or South Korea. Stopped Creekstone from selling BSE tested beef to Japan. He did what the USDA could to make COOL rules so ugly no one would implement them or was that Queen Ann?

Either way, nothing changed.

(Read More).

The New York Times is continuing to cover the environmental problems of China.  The country has more people, which use more water.  They have more growth, which uses more water.  The water is used inefficiently, and much of the rest is polluted. (Read more).

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is one of the biggest defenders of current trade policy.  The group is led by former Michigan governor John Engler.  NAM fights efforts to rein in currency manipulation, ignores foreign taxes on goods we sell to them, and disputes every sensible proposal to change course.  

The "course", of course, is an $800 billion trade deficit.   NAM has no word on outsourcing, nothing on losing our innovation, and zero on the fact we have deficits in virtually every trade category.  Domestic manufacturers, who are members of NAM, have tried to change the policy of the organization (if they are still in business).  But the Caterpillars, Cargills and other multinationals feeding off the China outsourcing craze block the domestic guys at every turn.

The national interest is irrelevant to them.  The U.S. can go down the tubes economically, but Cargill makes money.  A whole bunch of it.