[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/05/31/china.geithner/art.geithner.jpg caption="U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will push for better relations with China."](CNN) - Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is set to meet with several high-ranking members of the Chinese leadership this week, marking the Obama administration's first major overture to the powerhouse nation.
Geithner left Saturday for meetings in Beijing, where he'll discuss ways to strengthen relations between China and the United States, according to the Treasury Department.
China is one of America's most important trading partners, and its economy is tightly intertwined with efforts to reverse the global downturn.
But the relationship is also often a source of tension. Chinese exports to the United States have dominated trade between the two nations since the 1980s. The U.S. trade deficit with China rose again in March to $15.6 billion, the Commerce Department reported.
don't sell us down the river
What is the Geithner plan when the Obma deficits and the Bernanke printing presses completely destroy the value of the dollar? When will China say no more?
Hey Timmy... whatever you do, don't show them how to use turbo tax. And don't expect them to buy more treasuries – the gig is up.
I bet many of us would be surprised to find out how many foreign countries own "american busines'es". And then how many companies moved to other countries for "tax breaks" & to hire for low wages. Should have been stopped when it first started, "National Security" does apply. Now here we are, in a position that this once great nation now has to get on their knees and has no position of strength.
Well, I guess he has to go begging somewhere for more money to support Obama's spending plan.....when China cashes in we are definitely up the creek without a paddle. Even our own government isn't fiscally responsible,
We all better start learning how to speak chinese....
Our problem with China simply put is US. Yes US, the people of the USA. We have allowed our American companies to go over seas and set up to make the same things they used to make here so the income we used to have is now partially paid in the form of cheap labor to foreign employees while the rest is profits for the company. Then we borrow from the Chinese to buy these products and the money we borrow goes right back to foreign countries to pay for the products we buy. If this country is going to survive we had better let these "Overseas American Companies" know that they are not going to sell to this country unless they produce in this country. If they go over seas they lose all tax breaks as they will be reserved for American Companies.
We need to start to make things in this country again. Right now about all we make in this country is babies.
Maybe Geithner can sell the Chinese some GM stock? Considering that the Chinese holds the lien on this country, I'm surprised they did tell Obama to nominate a Chinese American for the Supreme Court.
@Ken in NC
Ken's got it right! If we had just a small portion of the jobs back that have been shipped to China and other countries we would not have the unemployment problem that we have today. This is not a Republican or Democrat problem, they are both guilty, it's a US problem. Instead of raising their standards to ours, it is lowering ours to theirs and rather quickly too. If the current administration is so gung ho to "correct the mistakes of the past" when will they attack this one?
Let's hope we can open up more markets for American goods in China..... Assuming anyone wants anything America can make that is.
Figuring our how to guarantee, and then pay, our debt is critical. I hope we don't sell Taiwan to do it.
@ Thomas:
Free trade Market, hmm! We have been buying stuff from China, and how many products were called back. You are putting down our workers? We always took pride in what we manufacture.
Remember we do have to pay the loan to China, and we have to GET out companies back to work to help pay the debt off too them!
lets look at history. in the 60's and prior. the issue is history, do you think that the chinese have forgot the way the US and its gov't treated the asian people in the past? NOPE ; now here we [united states] are going acroos the big pond putting up w/ a of a unfair trade policy thats lining the pockets of a choice few here and abroad, while the masses back in the states suffer, and here we go to the same people who remember how this gov't treated their citizens. now its our turn to grovel. karma is a mother ain't it. and to the chinese its all about payback as quiet as its kept.
geithner's trip to china... hmm .. maybe learning chinese
there.. but probably selling the USA down the proverbial
"tubes" though. Obama's right hand man, right there.
Must be time to ask for another loan! All you sheep out there had better start teaching your children how to say "please" and "thank you" in Chinese!
China things in terms of decades and centuries. The U.S. thinks in terms of weeks and months.
them to keep buying our debt even though they lose money on it every day because the dollar continues to decline.
Obama has put us on the path towards becoming a banana republic. Did you ever think the U.S. would have to get down on its knees and beg a country like China for its survival????
Tell the Chinese that free trade should be fair trade,no more trade deficits. Stop cooperate greed.
This is a golden example of the hypocricy of the Republican "Christian" agenda. Christains are publically silent and keep their mouths tightly zipped when the Republican "get-rich" leaders keep doing business with Communist China. The Chinese politburo, which consists of 10 men, decides what the truth is and what the Chinese people must adhere to. There is zero religious freedom in China. People are executed for their religious beliefs and practices in China, yet our government sees nothing wrong with being indebted financially to this brutal regime. So why don't "Christians" and evangelicals speak out about this? Because they are hypocritical. They would rather turn their heads and ignore the Chinese government's abuses all becuase of greedy ideology of money and free enterprise is equivalent to godliness. Take a good look in the mirror you so called Christians.
If you are WalMart shoppers, you are a big part of the problem.
Want to send a message to China? Stop buying Coke and Coke products, (that alone will probably kill this post.) Transfer as much debt as you can to your Visa card, then default, (this one will kill the post for sure.) Stop shopping at WalMart, (there's another killer.) Check the origin of merchandise before you buy. Buy American whenever you can. If it's more expensive, take it. Support Americans, not Chinese dictators.
The Chinese people are capitalists at heart. They work harder than us, and if we believe in the American dream, we should not begrudge them becoming the superior economy. They won fair and square, and we have to respect that.