China is not in the position Japan has during the last trade conflict 15 years ago. Japan was both a very important strategic ally and a supplier of critical goods - semiconductors, industrial machinery. China not so. Made in China products are eminently replaceable - consumer goods, light industry - and manufacturing can be turned around very quickly. Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia or Vietnam would be very happy to pick up the slack (and are scared of China). Also, China is clearly perceived as a threat in the US that has to be "dealt with".
These are all excellent points. A quick look at 2006 Us imports from China shows that it's dominated by low tech items. Although (I find this highly disturbing given what we know about Chinese safety standards) almost a quarter of US imports from China come in the "NUCLEAR REACTORS, BOILERS, MACHINERY ETC.; PARTS." Oh Jesus, that's just not a good thing.
I can't rember when the US import quotas on clothes ended, but I want to say it was last year. Reimposing those quotas could be a popular move, limiting Chinese imports, while at the same time shifting trade to other countries who could then be called upon to condemn China.
And don't forget that if China crashes the US dollar, they're also screwing every holder of USD denominated titles. Pretty much everybody. There would be a lot of people very pissed off with China. I'm sure everybody would love to see the USD taken down a peg or two but a currency crisis would not be taken lightly.
It's not straight dollar numbers, but Nationmaster has foreign reserves and gold for various countries.
Top 10 #1 China: $1,034,000,000,000.00 #2 Japan: $864,700,000,000.00 #3 Russia: $314,500,000,000.00 #4 Taiwan: $280,600,000,000.00 #5 Korea, South: $239,000,000,000.00 #6 India: $165,000,000,000.00 #7 Singapore: $134,600,000,000.00 #8 Hong Kong: $132,000,000,000.00 #9 France: $98,540,000,000.00 #10 Brazil: $87,270,000,000.00 This entry gives the dollar value for the stock of all financial assets that are available to the central monetary authority for use in meeting a country's balance of payments needs as of the end-date of the period specified. This category includes not only foreign currency and gold, but also a country's holdings of Special Drawing Rights in the International Monetary Fund, and its reserve position in the Fund.
#1 China: $1,034,000,000,000.00 #2 Japan: $864,700,000,000.00 #3 Russia: $314,500,000,000.00 #4 Taiwan: $280,600,000,000.00 #5 Korea, South: $239,000,000,000.00 #6 India: $165,000,000,000.00 #7 Singapore: $134,600,000,000.00 #8 Hong Kong: $132,000,000,000.00 #9 France: $98,540,000,000.00 #10 Brazil: $87,270,000,000.00
This entry gives the dollar value for the stock of all financial assets that are available to the central monetary authority for use in meeting a country's balance of payments needs as of the end-date of the period specified. This category includes not only foreign currency and gold, but also a country's holdings of Special Drawing Rights in the International Monetary Fund, and its reserve position in the Fund.
Japan, Taiwan, South Korea? All major trade partners with China. They all export the value added parts that are integrated into Chinese products. But a cheap watch? The leather band is Chinese, but the actual timepiece is Japanese. Pissing off these trading partners is probably a bad idea. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Although (I find this highly disturbing given what we know about Chinese safety standards) almost a quarter of US imports from China come in the "NUCLEAR REACTORS, BOILERS, MACHINERY ETC.; PARTS." Oh Jesus, that's just not a good thing.
Narhhh,
That's a fluke. Chapter 84 (big pdf) is all non-electrical machinery, sprayer for horticulture, valves, washing machines, and whatnots. It just starts with "Nuclear ...".
I know all about SIC categories, but still they remain thoroughly opaque. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Germany. German gold reserves in September 2006 were at 3422,5 tons. In September 2006 that was worth EUR 52 billion (at EUR 475 per fine ounce). Today (August 8, 2007) a fine ounce was worth around EUR 490. That alone is more than the number mentioned by "Nationmaster". And it doesn´t even include foreign reserves / currencies held by the Bundesbank. It´s difficult to believe that they would be halved in less than two years.
"The Economist" reports that at the end of 2005, Germany had foreign reserves of around $ 101 billion (gold and foreign currencies).
For what it´s worth, here´s the IMF Data on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity Official Reserve Assets (pdf-file). It confirms most of the "Nationmaster" data and puts the "Eurozone" foreign reserves at around $ 440 billion.
I´m a bit astonished though by the US data. I seem to remember that the US gold reserves were almost triple the German ones? That would be $ 150 billion+ in gold alone?
