There is a major battle brewing in Washington and it seems to be one-sided.
American politicians are planning to fault China for a bulk of this country's economic problems.
Jim Trippon, editor-in-chief of the China Stock Digest, suggests the vilification of China is hardly justified.
At the heart of the problem lay the U.S.'s stunning trade deficit with China, which grew to $201.6 billion last year, up significantly from the previous years $161.9 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's foreign trade statistics.
'Rather than take accountability and plan action against the real problems in America,' says Trippon, 'Politicians are opting to point an unfair finger at China.'
In an effort to shed negative light on China, American politicians focus their attention on their growing oil consumption. Because the demand for oil in China has increased drastically since the economy began to boom, oil prices have risen.
China's continued growth in the world energy markets means higher prices at the pumps for Americans. However, it's important to point out that the U.S. is still the world's biggest oil consumer to date.
'The fact remains that blaming China for America's economic problems is unjustified,' says Trippon, 'And we should look at ourselves first before trying to pass judgment on other countries.'
Politicians are joining forces and coming up with tactics to scare China into conforming to U.S. standards. Among the suggestions are to pass a bill requiring Congress to decide whether to grant China 'Permanent Normal Trade Relations' (PNTR) status every year.
Another idea in the works is to punish China with a 27.5% tariff on all Chinese imports to the U.S. to make up for the unfair trade advantage caused by China's low currency.
There are many more bills under consideration aimed at punishing China, in efforts to lay blame where there is none.
There is no substance behind these threats and according to Trippon, China won't be affected.
'China is a superpower that can't be messed with,' says Trippon, 'They aren't going to be intimidated by a few politicians trying to scare them. The only thing it might achieve is a strained relationship between the two countries and that's something we can't afford.'
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