Economic theory posited that a developed country like the United States would adjust to import competition by moving workers into more advanced industries that competed successfully in global markets. In the real world of American workers exposed to the rush of imports after China erupted onto world markets, the adjustment didn’t happen.
经济理论认为一个像美国这样的发达国家会通过将更多的工人转移进入高端产业这样的方式老提升进口能力，从而增强在国际市场上的竞争力。而事实上美国的工人在中国强势进入国际市场后备受打击，预期的转变并没有发生。
If mediocre job prospects and low wages didn’t stop American families from consuming, it was because the American financial system was flush with Chinese cash and willing to lend, financing their homes and refinancing them to buy the furniture. But that equilibrium didn’t end well either, did it?
如果中等的工作前景和低工资不能阻挡美国家庭的消费，那是因为美国的金融系统充斥着中国的现金和贷款，美国家庭翻新他们的房子并购置新的家具。但是这种平衡最终并没有好结果，对么？
What it left was a lot of betrayed anger floating around among many Americans on the wrong end of these dynamics. “By not following the law, the administration sent a political signal that the U.S. wouldn’t stand up to Chinese cheating,” said Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “As we can see now, that hurt in terms of maintaining political support for open trade.”
留下的只有背叛后的愤怒，许多美国人有动力认为这是一次错误的裁决因为更加的愤怒。美国外交部高级官员爱德华·艾尔登说，“行政部门没有遵守这个法律，他们释放了美国不敢在这个问题上挑战中国的信号。我们目前可以看到这种愤怒在伤害两国开放贸易的政治支持力量。”
If there was a winner from this dynamic, it was Mr. Trump.
如果说支持中国作为汇率操纵国的认知有什么受益人的话，川普总统肯定是受益人。
Will Mr. Trump really go after China? In addition to an expected executive order to retaliate against the dumping of Chinese steel, he has promised more. He could tinker with the definitions of “material” and “significant” trade surpluses to justify a manipulation charge.
川普总统会追随中国吗？对于中国的钢铁倾销，川普总统额外增加了行政命令征收报复性关税，而且他还承诺了更多的报复措施。他可以修改关于实物以及重要贸易顺差的定义从而决定操纵汇率的罚款。
And yet a charge of manipulation would add irony upon irony. “It would be incredibly ironic not to have named China a manipulator when it was manipulating, and name it when it is not,” Mr. Setser told me. And Mr. Trump would be retaliating against the economic dynamic that handed him the presidency.
对于汇率操纵的罚款是一件更加讽刺的事情。西斯特先生说，“当中国是汇率操纵国是我们不认定他是操纵国，当中国没有操纵汇率是我们却认定他是汇率操纵国。”川普总统自从执掌总统权力以来采取征收报复性关税的措施来提振美国经济发展动力。
