Not when it's manipulated. However, in your defense a big portion of our global trade problems have a lot to do with manipulated labor rates here in the US. Unions and government complicity have driven our labor rates to the point we are uncompetitive with the rest of the world. You simply cannot fight low standards of living that permit low wages elsewhere, uncompetitive business tax rates at home, government that props up labor rates by various mechanisms, government subsidies elsewhere, and be competitive in global trade - that's without even touching on the shambles we've made of education and work ethic. It's like building a mansion in a lower middle class neighborhood and expecting it to sell for the same as it would in a very upscale elite neighborhood.
We played this same game with the Japanese over the years, and it led to a logical conclusion. The Japanese economy did much the same that ours did when some semblance of sanity still prevailed, and they've become less competitive from a manufacturing standpoint because the standard of living blossomed. It's interesting to study higher end Japanese audio equipment. Home market stuff is better and built for Japan in Japan; the export stuff is built in places like China - the Japanese still expect and demand quality. China is about manipulated trade, income for the communist party running the place (the military to a great extent), and theft of any idea, design, or manufacturing concept they can get their hands on. What's really amazing is that our liberals rave about the environment and turn a blind eye to China; when you don't have environmental regulations preventing rape of the environment, costs tumble. Top corporate levels are happy as pigs in slop with globalism; in the short term they can make out like bandits selling tons of cheap goods to people expecting the quality and prices they used to pay for better stuff.
