When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson traveled to China last week for a meeting of the newly formed U.S-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, he brought with him an entourage that included much of President Bush's cabinet, as well as the chairman of the Federal Reserve. The delegation's high profile reflected the high stakes of the trip: with a new Congress poised to consider such measures as increasing the tariff on Chinese goods by 27 percent, Paulson needed to make clear progress toward resolving some of the tough issues plaguing the U.S.-Sino economic relationship.

To this end, Secretary Paulson and his delegation were right to push for a firm commitment from China to strengthen its currency and to crackdown on piracy of software and other products.…  Seguir leyendo »