China Helping Boost U.S. Economy Despite Currency Concerns

CHINA, Nov. 17, 2010 — -- This election cycle, Republicans and Democrats took turns accusing each other of spending billions of dollars to create jobs in China and pledging tax breaks to companies shipping jobs to China.

But last year $70 billion worth of American goods were sold in China and 437,000 jobs were created in the U.S.

Tyson Foods ships $200 million worth of chicken to China every year. Boeing is expected to make 3,700 planes for China in the next 20 years. There's also Motorola with its shipments of cell phones to the growing Chinese market.

However, ire over what the White House has called the artificial weakening of China's currency seems to be overshadowing American business successes.

"China, its currency is valued lower than market conditions would say it should be," President Obama said in September during a CNBC town hall. "And what that means is essentially that they can sell stuff cheaper here and our stuff, when we try to sell there, is more expensive. So it gives them an advantage in trade."

That "advantage" translated to a $227 billion trade surplus last year alone.

And today, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission added to the chorus, saying that China is creating global imbalances and using "market access-limiting practices" that fall outside its World Trade Organization commitments.

"Although the size of China's holdings has raised concerns about the degree of influence China has on the U.S. economy, the lack of alternatives and the potential detrimental impacts on China's economy make it unlikely that China would stop buying U.S. debt or liquidate its holdings altogether," the panel's report said, according to The Associated Press.