A Subtle Statement

For the third time in his presidency, President Bush rejected Congress' request to implement trade sanctions on China. Congress requested the sanctions after China continued to refuse to devalue its currency and update its system of linking the yuan to the dollar. The Bush administration, while balking at senators who point out that the cheaper Chinese goods hurt US manufcaturing industries, is subtly making a statement about the US economy. The administration is saying, albeit softly, that manufacturing jobs are not what the United States can rely on and placing sanctions on a giant such as China hurts US service industries (which are the bulk of the US economy) that depend on trade with China.