Mitt Romney released a jobs plan, which put him a step ahead of the current president, and it is mostly unremarkable — except for his promise to risk a trade war with China, a remarkably bad idea. In truth, it is an idea sufficient wrongheaded that it has been endorsed both by Donald Trump and by Paul Krugman, whose policy prescriptions on China Mr. Romney seems to have adopted tooth to tail.
If elected president, Mr. Romney promises, he will, on his first day in office, issue an executive order that “directs the Department of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator in its biannual report and directs the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports if China does not quickly move to float its currency.” Perhaps the first day in office is not the right time to make such a decision, and perhaps Congress ought to be consulted.
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