U.S. trade feeling squeeze by China

Re “Bound for Beijing,” editorial, Dec. 14

The time to have done something about our trade imbalance with China is long since past. There is no way to salvage the once-great manufacturing base in the United States. The market influence of such retail giants as Wal-Mart, seconded by such beltway ideologues as the Cato Institute, has assured that there will be massive annual trade deficits for the foreseeable future. The government now depends on foreign purchasers of its debt instruments to balance its huge budget deficit.

I doubt that the federal government is serious about its stated desire to have China increase the value of the yuan. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street firm that announced record receipts in 2006, much of which was secured by bringing Chinese firms public in world markets and other investment bank initiatives within China. How would increasing the value of the yuan help Goldman Sachs?

DANIEL ELIASON

Santa Barbara