Fred Bergsten Quotations

The point is -- ad we know this from history -- that if currencies remain way out of line, trade protectionism follows.

China is the 800-pound gorilla overshadowing all of the U.S. economic relations.

Hence China's currency policy has taken virtually all of Asia out of the international adjustment process.

I think it's a matter of a few years.

It is clear that the G-7 will come in with further intervention. They have made a commitment now and they must follow through.

We get the strong sense that the degree of frustration with China is accelerating very sharply and is not likely to be assuaged by a few orders that likely would have been placed anyway.

Traditionally, when the European integration process gets hit by a blow like this, they regroup and usually use it as a spur for progress.

So what we're showing in our numbers (is that the) bilateral deficit with China should really be interpreted as a U.S. deficit with all of Asia, not as a bilateral problem with China to be singled out.

It's a big mistake not to label China if the U.S. law has any meaning. They are still intervening massively to keep their currency from rising. I don't see how you can not define that as manipulation.

It is ridiculous not to have China and India ... on our side of the table in the energy policy debate internationally.

The failure to get progress on the economic issues may undermine the overall relationship and then make it harder to work together on the security concerns.

The failure of China to permit its currency to move, as most other countries in the world are doing, leads to a major protectionist trade reaction here in the United States.

In a matter of years, not decades, the euro will move up alongside the dollar in a bipolar global monetary framework.

In this crucial area, China is not playing by the rules. Failure to get progress on the economic issues will undermine the whole relationship and make it harder to get cooperation on security issues.

The history of U.S. trade policy amply demonstrates that dollar overvaluation and the huge and growing trade deficits that it spawns are by far the most accurate predictors of U.S. protectionism.

The euro will start to challenge the dollar as the world's lead currency as soon as the European Central Bank and the new currency establish their credibility -- which will probably be quite soon.

The main problems that undermine the prospects for a successful Doha round lie outside the negotiations themselves.