Geithner's report delay will pay dividends

Editor's note: The US Treasury on April 3 announced that it will delay publication of its semiannual report on the exchange rate policies of its leading trading partners, originally scheduled for release on April 15. The US government has been under pressure to name China a currency manipulator in that report amid growing tension between China and the United States on trade issues. The US Treasury did not announce when it now intends to publish the report. Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, told China Daily in an e-mailed statement that the move saves bilateral trade relations from being damaged by "China-bashing protectionists". The following are his comments:

"I applaud Secretary Geithner's decision to delay the Treasury's foreign exchange report. This effort was in danger of being co-opted by China-bashing protectionists. When laws are twisted for crass political purposes, a responsible government must challenge them. I think there is a compelling case to suspend, or seriously overhaul, this exercise.

"The main problem with the Treasury report is that it perpetuates America's denial of its own major role in fostering destabilizing global imbalances. The United States doesn't save. The broadest measure of domestic saving - the net national saving rate - has gone negative, falling to a record low of -2.5 percent of national income in 2009.